Trust
by Emerald Guardian
Summary: When a mysterious thief threatens the world economy, Sonic must join forces with the CIA to uncover the thief's identity, while Knuckles and Rouge struggle to keep their relationship intact. KnuxRouge SonicOC. COMPLETE! Read and REVIEW!
1. An Unexpected Visit

**Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visit**

It was dark in the night. One would need to squint in order to see their own hand in front of their face. There was a new moon that night, so it was even harder to see than usual. The only light came from above. The stars shimmered in the midnight sky and sent their small amount of light down to the ground below, which could only be seen reflecting off of wet grass as if the stars themselves were shining from the ground, not space.

Sonic broke through the plain like a rock shattering a mirror. He didn't have time to admire the surroundings; he had to get away. And besides, he could barely see anyway. His almost invisible blue body raced across the damp blades of grass, hoping he could find somewhere to hide for now. As he ran at the speed of sound, he took notice of a large tree to his left. It was tall, but he could easily jump up into it and linger on one of the more sturdy branches until the coast was clear. He leapt up into the tree and waited.

For about five minutes he sat there on the limb, not moving except to get a better view of the ground beneath him. He heard no movements except the shuffling of rodents in the brush or birds taking flight to and from nests above him. For the most part everything was as silent as it should have been on a summer night. Sonic took another look below him, and when he saw that no one was down there, he decided it was safe to start running again. He couldn't stay up there forever; they would find him eventually. So he jumped out of the tree, ready to run. But when he landed, he was startled to see someone else down there.

He was a hedgehog, like Sonic, but black and red, not blue. He also had a distinguishable white spot on his chest, which could be seen even at this time of night. As soon as Sonic saw the creature, he turned and fled in the direction he came from, hoping that the black hedgehog couldn't keep up with him. The black hedgehog, however, could keep up indeed. He ran as fast as Sonic did, with his black body even harder to make out in the darkness than Sonic. Sonic started to pick up the pace, but the pursuing hedgehog was able to push himself to the same limit. Sonic tried jumping and swerving and doing anything he could to lose the black hedgehog. But no matter what he tried and no matter how many times Sonic thought he lost him, the black hedgehog was always behind him, smirking. He would stop at nothing to catch Sonic, and Sonic could see the determination on his face. But Sonic would not give up. Not now.

They continued to run at supersonic speed, and the black hedgehog was starting to gain on Sonic. Sonic pushed himself harder, but it seemed as if the harder he pushed, the closer the black hedgehog got to him. The black hedgehog was soon five feet behind him and gaining. Sonic tried desperately to lose him with unexpected twists and turns, but they weren't as unexpected as Sonic had planned. The black hedgehog was almost able to follow Sonic's every move in the exact same place and form. Sonic tried turning to the left and right and zigzagging and turnarounds, but no matter what he did, the black hedgehog continued to gain until finally he was a foot behind Sonic.

They approached the road ahead at blinding speed. Sonic could hear the black hedgehog's breath behind him he was so close. He turned around and saw the hedgehog's hand stretched out ready to catch him like a hunter catching a scurrying rabbit. The black hedgehog's hand was centimeters away from Sonic when he dove across the road and rolled along the grass on the other side. Then he got up and sighed a relief. He was safe.

"Wow, Shadow," Sonic said to the hedgehog standing in front of him. "You almost got me that time!"

"Just you wait, Sonic," Shadow replied. "I'll get you one of these times. Just you wait."

"Have you seen any of the others around?" Sonic asked the other hedgehog. "I hope they can get past you guys."

"No, and I doubt it. Tails and Tikal aren't that fast, and I'm sure Knuckles, Rouge, or Cream would have been able to catch Amy."

"Are you kidding? Amy is almost as fast as us, and I know Rouge and Cream aren't any speed demons. It's just Knuckles that I'm worried about."

"You guys won't win again, I promise you. Oh, and by the way, what do you mean 'as fast as _us_'? You're not trying to say that we're equal in speed, I hope."

"Well, I had thought that, but now that you mention it, we're not. I'm clearly faster than you."

"What are you talking about? I almost caught you!"

"Yeah, _almost_. That's the key word there. You just couldn't get me before I got back, could you? If you were really faster than me, you would have been able to catch me earlier."

"You must be joking! I followed your every move to the dot, including all of your turns and zigzags, and I still caught up to you!"

"Maybe I wasn't pushing myself as far as I could have."

"You really think you're faster than me?"

"Is this a challenge I hear?"

"Are you up for it?"

"I never thought you'd ask."

They both walked to the other side of the road and got ready for the race. "See that tree way over there?" asked Shadow as he pointed in the direction of the large maple directly ahead of them, but right between them. "Whoever gets there and back here first is the faster hedgehog. Are you ready?"

"I'm always ready," replied Sonic as he stood up from stretching.

"OK, then. On your mark. Get set…."

"What are you guys doing?"

Both hedgehogs stumbled over on their faces at the sound of Amy's voice. "Well, it's about time, Sonic. You've fallen head over heels for me," she giggled.

"Amy! We were about to have a race!" Sonic shouted to the pink hedgehog's face. He dusted himself off and sighed. "Now where were we?" he said as he turned back to Shadow. "OK. On your mark. Get set. Go!"

They both took off at lightning speed. They only appeared as blue and black blurs against the setting of the night. They ran towards the tree, both equal in speed. They tagged it at the same time and turned around and started running in the opposite direction. They ran even harder back to the starting point, neither one of them able to pass the other. Both hedgehogs looked at each other, determined to phase the other out. They were so busy doing this that they paid no attention to what was in front of them and collided with the rest of the group.

They all fell to a heap just in front of the road. Everyone got up and dusted themselves off. "What were you two doing?" asked Knuckles. His long dreadlocks looked disheveled and his brow was dripping with sweat.

"We were having a race," said Sonic as if it were typical of him to be doing such a thing. Actually, it didn't surprise anyone.

"So, who was tagged?" Shadow asked the others.

"Well, I got Tails," said Rouge in a very proud voice. She too looked worn and tired, her wings spread far from having just landed. "And I think Knuckles tagged Tikal."

"But I managed to return to the safe area without being tagged!" exclaimed Cream. Her long ears were still flopping from running and flying. Her Chao Cheese hovered around her head also looking satisfied.

"Well, I guess that means we win again!" shouted Sonic. "So, Shadow, what were you saying about us not winning again?"

Shadow grumbled under his breath. "Wait till next time," he warned. "You may have evaded me long enough to reach safety and lucked out with the little collision we had, but your luck will run out eventually."

"What! You think you were going to win? I would have definitely won that race and you know it!"

Shadow just shook his head and smiled. "You want a rematch?"

"You bet! Let's do it!"

"Would you two stop?" interrupted Rouge. "We're going to Carvel for ice cream now, so if you want some, you'd better come with us."

The two hedgehogs decided that they could put off this little challenge for one night, so they walked over to Tails' large Storm airplane and hopped in. But instead of following them, Rouge stood there with her back to them and looked up at the stars.

"Rouge, are you coming?" asked Tikal from the airplane. "I know you don't want to miss out on getting any ice cream, do you?"

Rouge turned around and walked over to the airplane. "I was just…admiring the stars," she said vaguely. She jumped in the plane and they flew off.

They landed in the parking lot of the nearest Carvel and walked in. The plane combined with their selves entering the ice cream shop attracted a lot of attention, so they had to deal with an unnecessary amount of staring from passerby and associates of the shop. But as soon as they explained who they were, the employees were suddenly cheerful and happy to take their order. They all got their favorites: Sonic got chocolate chip, Knuckles got cookies 'n' cream, Tikal got French vanilla, Rouge got a vanilla and chocolate twist, Shadow got chocolate chip cookie dough, Amy got strawberry, Cream got chocolate, and Tails got cherry vanilla. They all walked back out to the plane and flew back to Tails' house, where they continued to talk about the game of manhunt they played that night.

"I say we have a rematch tomorrow," suggested Knuckles. "We should have definitely won!"

"You had four chances to win!" said Sonic. "It's pretty obvious that we had the better team."

"No way!" said Rouge. "We had me, Shadow, Knuckles, and Cream! We just didn't want to go all out because we didn't want you to feel bad."

"Oh, please," said Amy. "Just admit we were better. Why would you hold back during something like that?"

"Maybe Rouge was afraid she was going to break one of her nails," Tikal whispered into Amy's ear. They both started giggling.

"I heard that, you rat!" yelled Rouge, and she began chasing Tikal and Amy around the house trying to hit them with her pillow.

After several minutes of mayhem, the girls settled down and got changed in one of the other bedrooms. They went back to go say good night to the boys, but they ended up staying there for a while talking about the game and ice cream and anything else that would pass the time until they would have to go to bed.

"…and so I finally saw her digging underground trying to get away," Knuckles was explaining his pursuit of Tikal during the game. "I followed her down the tunnel and back up to the surface, and that's when I was able to get her," he finished proudly.

"You sound like you were a hunter trying to trap a rodent," said Shadow.

"Who says he wasn't?" Rouge said coolly.

"Ooooooooooooo," everyone sounded together.

Tikal, having been blushing throughout the whole story to begin with, was now looking very red in the face. She rose to her feet, but Knuckles stopped her and gently pulled her back to the floor. "At least I don't resort to stealing jewels for a living!" Tikal yelled at the bat.

The moment Tikal finished her statement Rouge leapt into the air and dove right at her, looking furious. Shadow grabbed her leg and pulled her back, but Rouge seemed very determined to break free. Soon Knuckles and Shadow were standing between the two of them trying to stop a potential fight. "Girls, come on," Knuckles scolded them. "We're supposed to be having fun here. Let's change the subject to something we can all enjoy. Like Eggman being locked in jail."

Soon they were all deep in conversation about how they had saved the world previously from Eggman's control and how they had him thrown in jail. They all agreed how good it felt knowing that they wouldn't have to worry about his annoying world domination attempts for a long time. Rouge seemed particularly quiet on the subject, but no one seemed to notice.

"Well, thanks to Shadow, we all know how to bring the world back if we ever need to," Tikal said optimistically. "How did you say you found that out?" she asked him.

"I remember the Professor saying something about the Chaos Emeralds having the power to restore the planet Earth and all its inhabitants if a group of true heroes and friends unite their spirits and friendship," he replied sheepishly.

"So the Professor's own words turned out to be his plan's undoing, then?" Sonic confirmed.

"Yes," replied Shadow. "I still can't believe my whole life, my eternal life, would have been a lie. But it won't be. And I owe that to Eggman."

"Yeah, usually the bad guys end up doing something stupid that messes up their own plan," Tails pointed out. "It's kind of ironic."

"Yeah," said Sonic. "But I'm just glad that egghead's in jail now. Now we can all live peacefully without anymore interruptions in our lives…."

As Sonic finished his statement, there was a loud knock on the door. They all jumped and turned in the direction of the door. Sonic was the closest, so he got up and went downstairs to answer it. He looked through the little window to see who it was, and he saw two tall men in black suits and shades standing on Tails' door step. He opened the door and said, "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for a Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog," one of the men said simply.

"Who are you?" Sonic asked the men, wondering if he should let them in or something.

"That's classified information. We're just asking if Sonic the Hedgehog is here."

Sonic could here the others walking down the stairs behind him, and he could tell by their slowed steps that they were staring at the men at the door. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog," he said confidently, knowing that if these men were up to something, his friends would back him up.

"Come with us, then," one of the men said.

Sonic hesitated before asking, "To where?"

"That's classified. You've been ordered to come with us immediately. We aren't here to harm you or your friends or anyone else. We just need you to come with us."

Sonic was still a little hesitant, but he followed them nonetheless. His friends watched him and the two men walk down the sidewalk to a car in which the three of them got in and drove away out of sight. Just like that, Sonic was gone. The rest of them walked back into the house and began discussing possible reasons for Sonic's mysterious abduction until they all went to sleep early that morning.


	2. The Mission

**Chapter 2: The Mission**

"So where are we going?" asked Sonic as the car pulled away from the curb and off down the road.

"You'll see," said the man sitting in the front passenger seat.

They drove for miles and eventually reached the airport on the other side of town. When they got out of the car, they walked to the front desk and whispered to the clerk the situation, at which the clerk responded promptly for them to follow him.

They turned left and stepped on the escalator leading to the second floor. They walked down the hallway filled with other travelers and business people waiting for their flights to arrive. Sonic could see the jam-packed restaurants, bars, and shops all along the hallway. He had no idea airports were this busy this late at night. They walked past a McDonald's before turning right down another hallway. Sonic could see outside through the glass windows an airplane slowly moving down the runway out on the outskirts of the airfield. They continued to walk down the hallway past a Dunkin' Donuts which had a line stretching at least fifty feet down the hall. They crossed another hall and soon came to metal detectors—meaning they were approaching the loading gates. Sonic and the three men stepped through the large structures and were free to continue on. They passed the first few gates and walked over to a group of chairs to sit. The clerk left them and returned to his desk downstairs. Sonic tried to get a look at the destination of Gate 5—their gate—but the screen was too far to see the letters, and he figured the men would stop him if he tried to get up. So he waited there with them for fifteen minutes until their flight had arrived.

They got up and walked over to the gate and down the passage leading to the airplane's entrance. Sonic was surprised to see no one else boarding or even on the plane. Actually, it wasn't a normal public jet. It was a private jet reserved for government officials. It was then he realized that the two men were government agents and they were all going to Washington D.C. They sat down in three seats and waited for liftoff. When the doors closed, the pilot announced all the usual procedures of making sure to buckle up and no using cell phones or any other electronic devices. Within a minute, Sonic began to feel the plane moving slowly down the runway. The two men said nothing, so Sonic looked out the window at the dark runway as they began to pick up speed and lift off the ground. His ears felt like they were full of some invisible, painful solids as the plane tilted upwards and lifted off the ground. He could feel the awkward sensation in his stomach as they rose higher and higher into the air. Within five minutes or so, they had passed the clouds and Sonic could see the little lines of roadway and large fields that didn't look so large now. When they had started flying at a level angle, Sonic felt more comfortable for conversation, so he started to ask the men about why he had been asked to come with them. However, before he could do that, the men turned to the back of the plane and motioned for someone to come in. Sonic gasped when he saw the President step out from behind the curtain.

The powerful man strode towards them looking grim and serious. He was tall and thin, with a clean shaven face and brown hair. He wore a dark suit with a blue tie that matched the color of his eyes. He seated himself behind the two other gentlemen and looked at Sonic for a while before speaking.

"I have a special job for you," he said in a businesslike voice to Sonic.

He didn't know how to respond; he was still shocked to see the President sitting in front of him. "What do you mean?" he forced out of his mouth, trying to sound as polite and professional as possible.

The President took a deep breath before speaking. "This is a very awkward situation for both of us, so I'll try to be as clear as I can. I am offering you a position as a CIA agent."

Sonic's jaw dropped to the floor. "A…a CIA agent?" he stammered, now having lost control of his ability to mask his shock. He continued to stare at the President in utter disbelief.

"Yes, a CIA agent. I will explain why in just a moment. But first I need to know this: will you accept my offer?"

"Will I accept your offer?" Sonic now had control again, and he was more than a little annoyed. "You're asking me to help you with something, right? You want me to go on some mission for you, is that it? You must be out of your mind!" He didn't care that he was talking to the President right now. "You expect me to help you after all those times you've had me arrested and locked up and thought I was the bad guy? After all those mistakes your government made?"

"Look," said the President. "I regret having done all that. I can see now that I was wrong to judge so quickly as to who the criminal was. I apologize for allowing GUN to have caused all that trouble for you, especially since you've saved the world from Eggman so many times before. But what would you have done if you were in my position?"

"Well, I would have taken more of an initiative. I would have done something about it myself; not asking others to go blindly searching for someone that they thought might be the criminal. You have a lot of nerve, asking me to help you now. And besides, I don't work for anyone."

"I've apologized already, haven't I? What more do you want of me?"

"I want you to land this plane at the nearest airport and let me go back home."

"I'm not keeping you here. You're free to go home if you wish."

"Then turn this plane around and send me home."

"Hear me out first."

"I already gave you my answer, Mr. President." He still had enough respect for the man to address him properly. "Why don't you get Rouge to do this for you?"

"She's on an extended leave of absence. And besides, I'm not so sure I can trust her to carry out this mission anyway."

"Why?"

"Well why should I tell you? After all, you want to go home, don't you?" The President was looking much more calm and triumphant now. "If you don't wish to be a part of this, I can't tell you anything."

Sonic's eyes narrowed at the man. He wanted to at least know about the mission, especially if there was a threat to the world, so he tried to look suddenly interested in the job. "Fine. I'll join the CIA. Is there some sort of orientation or—"

"No, no. You can be immediately inducted right now. Are you sure you want the job? Once you say yes, you can't change your mind later."

Sonic sighed and realized he had no choice. "All right, I'll take the job."

"Good. Here's your badge and suit." He threw a set of small black clothes and sunglasses at Sonic as well as a small silver badge. Sonic caught the suit and went into the bathroom to change. He came back out again looking embarrassed.

"Do I really have to wear this thing all the time?" he asked.

"Don't complain. Now, are you ready for your first mission?"

"Yes," Sonic said immediately.

"Okay. I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but jewels around the world have been mysteriously disappearing…."

"Oh, so that's why you didn't think Rouge could handle this assignment," Sonic chuckled a little.

"Yes. Anyway, jewels have been disappearing all over the world. Agents from many international organizations have been dispatched globally, but they've turned up next to nothing. I almost gave up when I remembered Sonic the Hedgehog. I figured I'd give you a chance to give yourself a good name with the government, so—"

"I thought you apologized for those mistakes in the past," Sonic said bitterly.

"Right, sorry. As I was saying, I decided to give you a chance to find them. We have no clues to help you, I'm afraid. Like I said, gems—particularly valuable gems—from continents on the other side of the world as well as our own have been turning up missing. You'll be traveling all around the world looking for any leads as to where the jewels have disappeared or who has been stealing them."

After taking it all in, Sonic said, "Do you think Rouge has anything to do with it, or at least knows who has been doing it?"

"I don't think so," said the President, but he didn't look as sure as he tried to sound. "But if you think she or your friends know anything about this, you are encouraged to interrogate them. This is a critical situation. The world's economy is at stake. You must do everything you can to find out who has been taking the jewels and where they are now. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Sonic after having thought about it. "When do I start?"

"Now. Here's a parachute." He threw a parachute to Sonic. "Right now we are flying over the Rocky Mountains. You are to land covertly outside of Denver and make your way to the Rockies, looking for anything you can find. You'll have a contact in Denver who will aid you on your way. I can't tell you how to find them now, but they should be easy to find. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

"Good. Contact me personally if you have found anything regarding your mission. I'll be waiting to hear from you. Good luck."

After putting the parachute on his back, Sonic opened the emergency door and jumped out. He had free-fallen before, but never for this long. It felt cold up there beyond the clouds as he plummeted down to Earth. As he endured the sensation in his stomach from falling, he began to think about possible things, or even people, to look for. He couldn't think for one minute why he had been assigned to Denver. He didn't think anyone would be hiding there. He didn't even know there were valuable jewels in Denver. But he could tell that it was threatening the world, so he had to stay focused on the mission. He was thinking about this for a while when he remembered his friends. As he past the clouds again he decided he would contact them as soon as he landed and fill them in on everything that had happened that night and what he was assigned to do. Hopefully they would be of some help to him.

He looked down at the ground and noticed that everything was suddenly becoming magnified as he fell closer and closer to the ground. He could see way off in the distance the city of Denver against the night sky. The ground seemed to start to fly up at him, and his instincts told him to pull the cord and release his chute. He opened the pack about one hundred feet above the ground and slowly drifted down to Earth. When he landed, he quickly pulled his black parachute down to the ground in case anyone was nearby. He took off the pack and took out his communicator. He pressed a few buttons before a small blue ray shot up from the device. After a few seconds, the figure of Tails appeared in the blue light.

"Sonic?" he asked in disbelief. "Is that really you?"

"What's the matter? Can't recognize me in this suit? Yeah, it's me, and boy do I have a lot of stuff to tell you guys! Bring everyone else up."

He waited till he could see everyone standing before him. Before he began, Amy shouted out in a worried voice, "Where are you, Sonic? Are you OK? And…what are you wearing?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I've got a lot to tell you guys. Those two guys that took me away were CIA agents. They took me to the airport and we got on board one of the government's private planes."

"Aren't those things so luxurious?" said Rouge absentmindedly.

"I guess, but that's not the point. We were probably flying to Washington, but once we started flying level the President came out from the back room and walked over to us. He sat down and asked me if I wanted to be a CIA agent…."

"What!" they all shouted. "A CIA agent!"

"Yeah, I know, pretty weird. Anyway, I refused at first because of all the times they tried to catch me and blame me for all those incidents when it was really—"

He paused. He stopped when he remembered that Shadow was there, and he knew Shadow didn't like to bring up that period of his life.

"Anyway, I eventually accepted the offer and became an agent, but only because I wanted to know more about this mission and if it threatened global security or not. I've found out that it has the potential to do just that. Apparently there have been mysterious jewel disappearances around the world, and…"

Everyone in the hologram turned immediately to Rouge. "You think I did it, don't you?" she said in an offended voice.

"Trust me guys," said Sonic reassuringly. "If Rouge did it, we would know. She's been around us the whole time, and besides, she wouldn't keep it a secret from her friends."

Sonic looked at Rouge, but she did not meet his gaze when she said, "Of course not."

"Okay, so anyway, I'm in Denver right now, looking for anything suspicious. I thought I would let you guys know where I was and what I was doing. If you know anything or discover anything important that has to do with this mission, contact me. I don't know if the President wants you guys to be on my missions with me, but I'd me more than happy to have you guys helping me out.

"Okay, I've got to go now. I'll see you guys later!" he said as he switched of the communicator. He put it in his suit and started running off to Denver as the morning sun rose over the mountains in the east.


	3. Mysteries of the Past

**Chapter 3: Mysteries of the Past**

After they all said goodbye to Sonic, Tails shut off the communicator and they all went to eat breakfast. While they were all at the table eating, Tails said, "Hey, Rouge, I have a question for you."

Rouge seemed a little startled, but responded in a calm voice. "Yeah, what?"

"Do you know if I can go to Denver and be allowed to help Sonic with his mission? I figured you would know if an agent is allowed to receive any help from his or her friends or not."

"Well, I'm not really sure," she replied. "I've never asked the President about it because I've never needed to. I usually work alone."

"Well if you're going, Tails, then I'm going, too," Amy insisted. "Sonic needs me now more than ever," she added dramatically.

"Oh please," said Knuckles. "He's probably glad he's away from you for once."

Amy glared at him before getting up and going to the shower. Cream, Rouge, and Shadow followed her upstairs. Tikal got up and was about to walk over to the stairs when Knuckles grabbed her arm and asked her to stay. She sat down again and asked him what he wanted.

"Listen, I've been thinking," he began. "Do you remember how Sonic said there have been mysterious jewel disappearances all around the world?"

"Yeah," said Tikal.

"Well, that means that the Master Emerald is in danger again. So I'm going to need to get home soon. But I was wondering," he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I was wondering if you knew any ancient protective spells or incantations or anything like that that could help me."

Tikal sat there for a moment and thought about it. Finally, she said, "I suppose so. But there are so many, and the spells are so terribly complicated that I couldn't tell you right now. Maybe when we get home we can discuss this more."

"Well, see, there's a problem with that," said Knuckles. "Rouge and I have been talking, and we've decided that we were going to go on a vacation around the world, kind of like an extended date." He blushed slightly. "I won't be able to meet with you if we're on the other side of the world, and I don't want Rouge to know about this."

"She shouldn't know about it," said Tikal. "These are only allowed to be heard by echidnas from our tribe: the tribe destined to always guard the Master Emerald." She paused. "You'll have to cancel your plans."

"What am I going to tell her!" Knuckles said almost loud enough for them to hear him upstairs. He dropped his voice down to a whisper again and said, "I can't just cancel our plans for some unknown reason."

"Tell her the truth: you have to stay behind and guard the Master Emerald. If she still doesn't understand, tell her that during a time like this, when the Emerald is in extreme danger of being stolen, you have to stay on Angel Island and guard it." Before she spoke again, they both heard the sound of someone on the stairs, so Tikal lowered her voice as she continued. "Tell her she is welcome to stay there with you, but if she accepts the invitation, make sure she doesn't know about our meetings."

Knuckles sighed. "I guess I'll have to do that," he said with a disappointed look on his face. "But what do I do if she asks me where I'm going?"

"First of all, we'd have to do those meetings at night, that way it can be kept as secret as possible. So she shouldn't even know what you're doing. And if she does spot you leaving, tell her you're patrolling the island to make sure that the thief isn't there." She paused again when she heard more movement on the stairs. It was someone going up stairs. "Unless the thief is sleeping with you—"

"Shut up!" Knuckles hissed at her instinctively. "We haven't…gotten that far. We'll be sleeping in separate beds, thank you very much. And another thing: why do you insist that Rouge is the one that's been stealing all the jewels?"

"Hmm, gee, let me think," Tikal whispered sarcastically. "Maybe because she's done it so many times before! How many times has she tried to take the Master Emerald from you?"

"Look, if you can't trust Rouge, that's not my problem. But I trust her enough to let her on Angel Island. She's changed, Tikal. She's not that heartless thief that we once knew. She's turned over a new leaf."

"What makes you think that? Is it because you've fallen madly in love with her and you're now too blind to see the truth about her? She's a thief and always will be!"

Knuckles closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was obvious he was resisting the urge to yell as loud as he could. "I don't need this," he said calmly. "When you're ready to learn how to trust newcomers, let me know."

"You know Knuckles, you should be careful of what you say. _I _appointed you to be the Master Emerald's guardian, and I can just as easily take that opportunity away."

"Oh, so now you're changing the subject, huh? Allow me to do the same. At least I can love someone."

Tikal looked stunned but quickly masked her emotions. "If only you knew," she said. "If only you knew…."

"Listen, I don't have a problem with Rouge. I don't know why you do, but you need to get over it. She's not after my Master Emerald anymore. I can prove it when we go to Angel Island."

"Good luck with that. And how do you know Rouge isn't getting close to you just to get her hands on the Emerald?"

Knuckles was out of his seat before she finished. He looked like he was ready to kill her, but he stopped himself. "How dare you say something like that? Rouge and I have a special, _unconditional_ love for each other, and you have no right to say otherwise. And the way you're pressing on about Rouge pretending to love me, one would think you were a little jealous…"

Now Tikal was out of her seat. "And you have a lot of nerve. Are you so full of yourself that you think I'm in love with you, too? Don't count on it. Maybe I'm just concerned for you. Maybe I don't want my best friend believing he's in an unconditional relationship if he really isn't!"

Knuckles looked taken aback and embarrassed. "Sorry," he apologized. "I guess I got so angry when you said Rouge might not really love me. I guess I kind of worried about that possibility and took out my anger on you. I didn't mean to insinuate…"

"It's okay," said Tikal. "I'm sorry for saying that. I guess I still don't really trust Rouge that much yet. But I know she's capable of betrayal, so I didn't want you to get hurt in the end. I care about you, but I'm not in love with you."

"Then who's the lucky bachelor you were talking about before?" Knuckles said slyly.

Tikal blushed. "I never said anything," she said, but Knuckles was not swayed. But he did not continue to talk about it.

"So when we get back to Angel Island, we can start meeting each other?" confirmed Knuckles as the others were coming back downstairs.

Tikal nodded as the others walked into the room. "So, are you two done talking yet?" asked Rouge.

"Yeah," said Knuckles. "Listen, Rouge, I need to see you in private."

Rouge didn't look like she understood, but she went with Knuckles back upstairs. When they closed the door behind them, Knuckles said, "I've got some bad news."

"Okay," said Rouge.

"Due to the international jewel thief, we will not be able to go on our vacation."

Rouge seemed very upset. "Why? What does that thief have anything to do with our vacation?"

"Everything," explained Knuckles. "Because of the thief, I have to stay on Angel Island and guard the Master Emerald. I can't let it leave the island, so I can't take it with me. But we can have a vacation there. You're more than welcome to live with me in my house until the thief has been caught."

Rouge looked a little bit cheered up, but she was still disappointed about the cancellation of their trip. "All right," she sighed. "When do we leave?"

"Now," he said. "Go ahead and pack everything. I'll meet you downstairs."

As Rouge walked out the door and down the hall to her room, Knuckles felt terrible. He hated making her unhappy in any way, and he was really looking forward to their trip around the world. Hopefully Sonic would be able to find that jewel thief soon so Knuckles and Rouge could take their vacation. And as he was thinking about this, he was thinking about something he had been dreaming for nearly a year: marriage. Just the thought of standing their at the altar, looking back down the aisle to see Rouge in a long, beautiful, heavenly white wedding gown slowly walking towards him made his heart leap out of his chest. He had been thinking about this for so long that he had already planned everything out: they would build a church on Angel Island and marry in the presence of their friends. Sonic would be the Best Man and Amy the Maid of Honor (since it was obvious Rouge wouldn't pick Tikal to be her Maid of Honor; they didn't exactly get along). Tails could be the ring-bearer and Cream would be the flower girl. Shadow would be the only usher and Tikal would be a bridesmaid. They would probably hire a priest from somewhere else to bond the two destined to be together. He started thinking about the reception when he heard Rouge calling him from downstairs.

He had already packed his suitcase the night before, so he went into his room and got it. He walked down the stairs and saw her standing in the doorway with her suitcase in her hand. It almost gave him an eerie feeling, as if something was crawling up his spine. He almost had a feeling he would see this sight again, but she would be walking out his door. He couldn't bear to think about it, so he cleared his mind of the thought.

"Ready to go?" he asked. "Oh, and by the way, Tikal's coming with us, so I don't want to hear any fighting on the way over, okay?"

"Well as long as…" Rouge began, but then she changed her sentence when she saw the look on his face. "Okay," she sighed.

"Well, we'll see you guys around," said Tails. "Good luck Knuckles."

"Thanks," replied Knuckles.

They all said goodbye as Knuckles, Tikal, and Rouge all walked out the door and down the street. Once they were out of sight, Tails turned around to Amy and said, "I'm going to Denver in a couple of hours. Do you want to come?"

"Absolutely!" Amy shouted. "Can we go now?" she asked eagerly.

"I want to go, too!" Cream squeaked. "I want to help Mr. Sonic, too!"

"How about you, Shadow?" asked Amy. "Do you want to come with us?"

Shadow didn't speak at first. After a moment of silence, he said, "No, I think I'm just going to take a run around the globe. I feel like being alone for a while. But good luck with the mission."

"Well, I guess we could leave now," said Tails. "We'll see you around Shadow."

"Same to you," he replied. He took off down the road the same way Knuckles, Tikal, and Rouge left.

"Come on, let's go!" said Amy. "What if Sonic needs us now and we're too late?"

"Amy," Tails said flatly. "Get help."

"What's wrong with me loving someone?" Amy asked in an offended voice as all three of them walked to the backyard and hopped into the Storm.

"Nothing's wrong with loving someone," said Tails. "But you're just obsessed. Sonic clearly has no love interest in you. I know it's hard for you to see the truth, but…"

He stopped when he saw her face, with a combined expression of anger and hurt.

"Don't feel bad, Amy," said Cream. "Sonic will eventually look at you differently, the way you want him to. You just have to keep hoping."

"Thanks, Cream," said Amy as she stuck her tongue out at Tails.

Tails rolled his eyes as he lifted the plane off the ground and into the atmosphere. He set the course for Denver, and they were on their way.

Hours later, on Angel Island, Knuckles arrived at Tikal's house in the middle of the night. As he closed the door behind him, he said, "I waited till I knew she was fast asleep. I never noticed, but Rouge is so beautiful when she's—"

"Okay, can we get on with this?" said Tikal. She was tired and didn't feel like listening to yet another one of Knuckles' extremely long and boring descriptions of Rouge.

"Okay, but I have a question. These meetings cannot be every night, otherwise neither one of us will ever get any sleep. They're not going to be, are they?"

"No, and they're not going to be long, either. I'm just going to teach you one or two charms or spells per meeting. You should be able to catch on pretty quickly."

"Okay, let's do it."

They sat down across from each other, cross-legged, and Tikal with a book in her lap. She opened up to a page and scanned it over quickly to make sure it was correct. "Okay, this first spell uses little materials, mostly just the power of your soul. When you say the incantation, your will power will be channeled into the air and will form a temporary shield around the Emerald. Now as I said before, only those from our tribe can…"

"Can…what?" asked Knuckles.

Tikal seemed to be in a trance. After a moment she stirred again. "Sorry, I was just thinking about—"

"—our tribe," finished Knuckles.

They both sat in silence for a minute or so. Finally, Knuckles spoke again. "Tikal," he said slowly. "Do you think you could tell me a little bit about our tribe? About how they…died out?"

Tikal was melancholy and lost in thought. Knuckles could see a tear being shed from her eyes, and it flowed gently down her face. She snuffled a little, which indicated she was crying. She looked up at him like she never had before, a look of inner pain and a lack of understanding all over her face. She seemed to be using every ounce of strength to restrain the oncoming flood of tears and the inevitable breakdown of control. He could merely look on as his princess, who had been known to have a strong ability to not let emotions steer her from the right path, fell into a dark void with no light.

"It's too tragic for you to hear," she whispered to him. "And it's too much for me to bear."

She began to cry silently, but Knuckles could still see shreds of resistance. "Then let me help you bear it," he said gently. "It's my tribe, too. I have a right to know, and I should know. It will help you to tell me. Please, can you find it in yourself to bring out the mystery of our tribe's disappearance?"

She continued to cry, but she couldn't answer him. He sat there and waited for her; he wasn't going to push her anymore. She calmed down after nearly five minutes and spoke in as controlled of a voice she could manage. "What you are about to hear can never be repeated to anyone else. You must swear to me that you will never, ever tell anyone anything about what you hear tonight. Do you promise?"

"Of course I do. I don't want to hear this so I can tell everyone else my history. I want to hear it because I must know for myself. I feel like I'm incomplete without that knowledge. I swear I will never tell anyone about this."

"Okay," said Tikal as she wiped her eyes. She opened the book again and turned to a different page and began to read. Knuckles prepared himself for the worst as she began reading to him the tale of how their tribe came to not exist anymore.


	4. Rocky Rendezvous

**Chapter 4: Rocky Rendezvous**

The streets of Denver were peaceful this time of day. Though it was one of America's most recognizable urban areas in the West, nothing much ever rolled through town. There was the occasional bank robbery or car theft, but that was to be expected in a city. Denver didn't get many visitors, either, which was unusual in a city. But it was not unexpected for Denver's location. Situated high above the land in the Rocky Mountains, many tourists avoided Denver because the air pressure was uncomfortable and awkward. And besides, there wasn't much to do or see in Denver. It wasn't exactly a Yosemite, but it wasn't a New York, either. But there was one thing that Denver did have that made it stand out.

The ancient jewel of the Anasazi tribe was one of the most beautiful jewels the western United States had to offer. Not only that, but it was said to have mysterious powers. It was a large sapphire about the size of two Chaos Emeralds, but not quite the same magnitude of power. The Anasazi believed that the jewel could alter the time of the sun setting or rising, which made sense to them when they observed that the time did indeed change almost a minute a day. But scientists and researchers today claim that the jewel is nothing but an attractive stone, possessing no mystical powers, except maybe one that draws the eye to it. Because of its size and value, the Anasazi jewel has not only attracted visitors, but potential thieves as well. There have been several break-ins inside the Bank of Denver in which the jewel was almost abducted. But thanks to the Denver authorities and security, the jewel has remained safe until this day.

In fact, this very day has witnessed the first time the jewel has been successfully stolen.

No one even knew who had done it, or even that it happened for that matter, until the next day. The police had no leads, and people began to think their city's protected gem was gone forever, taken from right under their noses. For all anyone in that city knew, the jewel could be on the other side of the world right now, being traded off as payment for some illegal drugs or other contraband. It could be in the hands of some evil mastermind who had figured out how to harness its supposed powers in order to dominate the world. Or it might just be in the hands of some random burglar just looking for some quick money. It was none of these.

One person in Denver knew who it was, but not their identity. To that person it was painfully obvious that it was the international jewel thief. After all, this unknown criminal had broken into countless banks and reserves and stolen highly-secured gems and stones from all around the world. It seemed logical to place the blame on the international thief. Who else had the necessary cunning and evasive skills to steal jewels in that style?

But still they had yet to discover the identity of the criminal. It was more likely than not that they had never seen the thief before, but that didn't mean they would not look for them or information on them. And today seemed to be that day. Because today a mysterious-looking hedgehog walked into town, and he looked like a good source of information.

In fact, the person had been following the hedgehog for some time now, but the hedgehog had never turned to look behind him, so they were in no danger of being discovered. Besides, they were in a city, and you can never tell if someone's following you in a city.

They walked down Elm Street for three blocks and then turned left. The pursuer predicted they could follow the hedgehog to their residence and interrogate them—or use any other method of extracting information.

They walked into the mall on the street. Apparently the hedgehog was using the mall as a shortcut…or maybe a detour to escape likely pursuers. The pursuer cautiously held back a little more and followed the hedgehog past stores of all kinds. The sweet smell of coffee from a nearby café drew the pursuer's senses temporarily, but they were able to avoid the temptation to sit down and have a cup. The displays of colorful, lively, and hip clothes attracted the eyes of other customers that were willing to spend all their money on such frivolous things. The noises of electronic games and devices beeped and whistled at seemingly hypnotized viewers and shoppers who couldn't wait to get back to work or school and brag about how they had acquired the latest innovation of the cell phone.

The hedgehog turned into JCPenney at the end of the mall. Apparently they were using the store to delude mysterious stalkers and lose them while escaping out the back doors of the store. The hedgehog unknowingly, or perhaps knowingly, led the pursuer into the store and then followed the tiled path past several jewelry counters. Everything sparkled magnificently as if it were a mine of diamonds and jewels. Ironic, the pursuer thought, that these jewels had not been stolen along with the Anasazi gem. The thief had therefore again displayed extreme cunning and cleverness, for they wasted no time on such low-value gems when they could be stealing powerful, quick-money-making stones from high-security government buildings and treasuries from around the world. It seemed ludicrous to risk being caught while stealing such small, insignificant jewels.

They turned left and walked past racks and racks of hosiery and women's underwear. The pursuer now ducked behind the racks in an effort to conceal themselves and convince the hedgehog that they were no longer or never were being followed. The hedgehog never looked back, however, but the pursuer played safe nonetheless. They walked through shirts and pants and slacks and sweaters and bathing suits and almost right into innocent shoppers. When they were noticed by the customers, the pursuer met their questioning and disturbed looks with a sheepish smile and continued their snooping. Soon they were approaching the curtains. The hedgehog had continued to follow the path, never looking behind him, with curious people staring at him in his government uniform and his blank expression. He looked like just your typical person, or hedgehog, that happened to work for some government agency and was only taking a break from their busy schedule to do a little clothes shopping. He showed no signs of recognizing anyone or their odd staring, or even the fact that there was some clearly unstable person creeping behind the clothing racks like a five-year-old boy acting out a James Bond movie. These two odd characters attracted much attention from the shoppers, but neither one seemed to pay them much attention in return. And they went about their business, and soon after did the customers.

As the hedgehog walked past the hanging curtains displayed to his sides, the pursuer walked in and out of the curtains, like a shadow afraid of the light. The pursuer knew that what they were doing in public was extremely humiliating, but they also knew it was all for their safety, although they had no idea. Not once did the hedgehog look back, but the pursuer continued their attempt at stealth in order to follow the hedgehog without being seen doing so. This plan really didn't make much of a difference except in the case of the hedgehog himself. Nearly everyone they past had seen the pursuer and their bizarre actions of sliding in and out of clothing and curtains, but the hedgehog apparently didn't notice, or was trying to appear that way.

Soon, the hedgehog approached the escalator to the second floor of JCPenney. The pursuer temporarily abandoned stealth and followed the hedgehog up the escalator, neither one accelerating their pace or doing anything more to make them look unusual. After they got to the top of the escalator, the hedgehog turned right and walked past the young boys section towards the clerk at the counter at the end of the path. The clerk saw the hedgehog walking towards her and stiffened up, preparing for an unusual encounter. The pursuer, meanwhile, took an effort to conceal themselves again behind clothing racks and shelves. The pursuer got as close as they could to the hedgehog and the clerk without being noticed by passerby in order to listen in on their conversation. But all that was said and asked was that if the clerk knew anything about the international jewel thief and if they had been in this store recently. The clerk seemed a little relieved upon hearing this, and said that she hadn't heard or seen anything. The hedgehog told her to keep a sharp lookout for anyone suspicious, and ever so slightly, almost indistinguishably, cocked his head behind him to the very clothing rack which concealed the pursuer. Although this movement had startled the pursuer, they had gotten little from this conversation except one very important thing: the pursuer's original hypothesis had just been proven true.

The hedgehog turned left and followed the tiles to the elevator. He pushed the button and the metal doors instantly slid open. He walked in and turned around, not making any motions to look for someone following him. He pushed the button inside the elevator and the doors slowly closed again, and he vanished from the view of the pursuer.

The pursuer, by this time, had already hastily returned to the escalator and descended it. They walked down the moving stairs and stepped onto the first floor once more. The pursuer then walked over to the elevator and quickly ducked behind a rack of black leather jackets as the doors slid open and the hedgehog stepped out. The hedgehog then proceeded to walk casually past the coat rack and made his way back to the mall itself. The pursuer quickly and quietly followed.

The hedgehog walked down the mall past the same stores that he had passed earlier, but his pace had certainly quickened, forcing the pursuer to slightly quicken their pace as well. The hedgehog continued to walk towards the escalator ahead. Like everything displayed in all of the shop windows, he drew the glances and looks of amazement form the passerby as he had in JCPenney. It wasn't everyday that a character such as his would venture to the mile-high city. He stepped on the escalator and suddenly started running up the already moving stairway. Stunned by this new movement, the pursuer quickened their pace even more, but only accelerated their walking speed. They didn't want to look obvious. But apparently the hedgehog had finally caught on or was just tired of this game that went on for too long. When the pursuer stepped on the escalator, they walked up the moving steps to hopefully catch a glimpse of the direction in which the hedgehog had headed. But when they reached the top, they had lost him.

They tried to think of the best possible way of finding the hedgehog again. They didn't want to ask for directions as to where the hedgehog had gone because that would draw unwanted suspicion and attention. After several minutes of thinking, the pursuer was about ready to ask for help. That's when they thought they saw something up on the roof. They could have sworn they saw a blue blur flash by the window of the roof, so they walked quickly to one of the nearer emergency exit doors. They slowed their pace, because they didn't want people to see them. If they opened the exit door, the mall's alarm system would go off, and the pursuer would be in big trouble. When they saw no one looking their way they quickly opened the exit door and shut it just as quick. As it was programmed to do, the alarm system went off, and as the pursuer climbed the stairwell to the roof, they could hear the frantic scattering of startled and unsatisfied shoppers fleeing to get out of the mall.

The pursuer smashed the roof door open and saw the hedgehog at the edge of the roof, getting ready to leap off into the streets below. Before the pursuer could rush forward at the hedgehog, the blue creature jumped into the air and sank rapidly down to the pavement. The pursuer could see a parachute being released just before the hedgehog made impact with the ground. Obviously, everyone on the block could see what was going on. As the hedgehog shed his parachute pack, the pursuer jumped down after him, but they didn't have a parachute. They did, however, have enough luck to land on the roof of a parked car. They had just enough time to see the hedgehog jump on a nearby motorcycle and speed off down the street. The pursuer ran towards another bike and sped off after him.

The motorcycles wove in and out of oncoming and forward traffic in their chase sequence. The hedgehog turned right at the next light and flew down a one-way road with traffic moving in the direction opposite him. The pursuer knew a shortcut, so they turned down an alley and zoomed into the open door of a slum. They crashed through tables, chairs, and other furniture before reemerging outside the building.

The pursuer caught sight of the hedgehog speeding down the road to their left, so they followed them in hot pursuit. After several blocks, they came to the highway intersection. The hedgehog turned right onto the access ramp and flew up the hill to merge into the highway. The pursuer followed them quickly up the ramp. Again, both bikes experienced traffic through which they would need to weave in order to get ahead. The hedgehog was gaining speed as it became a quarter of a mile ahead of the pursuer, and it was still going faster. But they didn't have to endure the heavy traffic that the pursuer was now forced to navigate through. They flew by the next exit and continued their flight/chase.

By this time, the authorities had been alerted and dispatched, which became clear as the loud blare of sirens sounded behind them. Since they were emergency vehicles, the passenger cars let them pass, which permitted the police cars to gain distance on the bikes. Soon, the cops were slightly less than a quarter mile behind the pursuer. Now the pursuer was being pursued, so they swerved to the right in order to jump down onto the train tracks below them. The cop cars, however, could not react with the same speed, nor would they risk the same decision, so they continued their pursuit of the other bike nearly a third of mile in front of them on the highway.

As the sound of sirens grew more and more dim, the pursuer followed the train tracks and down into the subway network below the city. They turned on the bike's light, but it did little but reflect off of the black void of darkness in the subway. The ride was also uncomfortably bumpy due to the wooden planks not being level with the ground beneath them. All of a sudden, they heard a loud horn—a train was coming right at them! The light shone bright in their face rendering them blind, but they knew they had just enough time to swerve to the tracks on their left. They had just missed being killed by the train. In fact, the wind force being expelled off the train nearly knocked the bike over. The former pursuer could hear the train to their right, its wheels squeaking as they moved at top speed, its engine churning furiously to keep it at that speed, and the wind blowing off the train that resulted from its speed.

The motorcycle continued its trip down the subway tracks, following a blind path of spikes and rails. In the approaching distance, they could see shreds of light, meaning they were coming to a subway station. Instead of ditching the bike and running up the steps, they continued onward down the tracks until they eventually reached the end of the subway. They were now approaching the city limits as there were less buildings and more suburban homes along roads that had less cars parked alongside the curbs. Unfortunately, there were no railroad crossings for a mile or so, and the tracks were fenced in, so they were trapped and forced to continue on the rails.

As they approached a crossing, they heard the sound of a train horn again, but this time it came from behind the motorcycle. The former pursuer stopped the bike and looked to the left as the gates began to close. And they were shocked to see the blue hedgehog zooming right at them, still on his bike being pursued by the cop cars which were now about twenty yards behind him. The hedgehog saw the descending gates and picked up his speed. He also saw his former pursuer, and then proceeded to wink at them as he slid his bike so that its side was sliding across the pavement. The pursuer quickly moved their bike to safety off the tracks just under the gates and watched in awe as, miraculously, the hedgehog slid under the now almost fully descended gates and onto the other side of the tracks just in time to avoid being hammered by the oncoming train and to make sure the cops were stuck behind the train. The hedgehog righted his bike up, but when he saw that it was out of fuel, he jumped off it and continued to run off down the road. The pursuer sighed as they turned to the hedgehog's direction and continued their chase.

"Sonic? Can you hear me?" said the President's voice through the two-way communicator.

"Loud and clear," replied the blue hedgehog. "What is it?"

"We just received information from our radar screens that the jewel thief is somewhere on the Rockies at this very moment! Hurry; this may be your best and only opportunity to catch them!"

"Alright, I'm on it! But, sir, have you noticed that someone is following me, too?"

"Yes. Yes I know."

Sonic waited a moment to hear the person's identification, but when nothing came, he said, "Sir, do you know who—?"

"Sonic, I can't …hear you! You're…breaking up! Your altitude's…too high! I can't stay in…touch with you! Good…luck!"

Sonic sighed and shook his head. He continued to run up the trail that led upwards into the mountains. He couldn't worry about the person behind him right now. He had to get to that jewel thief before they detected him and escaped. Unless…

He turned around and saw the motorcycle about a quarter of a mile behind him. He was adding to the gap between them, but he wasn't so sure he should. But then he thought to himself why would the jewel thief be chasing _him_? He turned to face forward again, and he was lucky he did, because there was a large ravine ahead, one that he might not be able to jump over. He picked up speed even more and prepared to make the leap of faith.

He bent his knees and pushed himself off of the edge of the cliff. For a moment, he felt like he was flying. He spread out his arms like an eagle soaring among the clouds, with its keen eyes searching out its prey below him. Before he landed, he saw a flash of light in the sky. Within a second, he heard a loud clap of thunder. He began to feel flecks of water on his face as he stretched out his hand and just managed to grab the edge of the cliff. But he couldn't pull himself up quick enough. Before he could do so, the motorcycle was above him, and the pursuer smiled, having finally caught him.

But before the pursuer could say or do anything, there was another bright flash, and a black shadow appeared behind the person on the motorcycle.

"Look out!" Sonic shouted, but it was too late. When they did start to turn around, they were knocked off the bike and sent flying across the rock and dirt along the cliff.

Sonic used all his strength to quickly pull himself up before the thief could make their move. And before Sonic could make his, he was grabbed and thrown the other way. He hit a large boulder, which knocked the wind out of him, but didn't knock him out. He ran full speed at the thief, who was caught completely by surprise. They were knocked into the ravine and appeared to be falling down, until they activated rocket shoes and flew up to the cliff. Sonic made the fatal move to see if the former pursuer was conscious, and in doing so, he allowed his attacker a second to kick him across the ground.

Sonic dusted himself off and noticed that he now had a large bump on his head. He leaped into the air and dove at the thief, now in the form of a blue ball. But the thief had seen this coming, so they stepped out of the way and let Sonic hit the ground. The thief then leaped into the air and hurled explosive discs at Sonic, but Sonic turned around in time to see them and move. The next thing he knew, a laser beam was following him. He ran frantically in circles to dodge it, and eventually he became so fast that the thief couldn't even see him. Sonic knocked the thief out of the air and prepared to attack again. But the thief blasted up into the air and hit Sonic into another nearby rock.

After getting up, Sonic rolled into a ball and used his spin dash to bowl the thief over, but they simply jumped over him and fired a small missile at him. Sonic was fast, but so was the missile, and it followed Sonic's every move. He tried in vain to lead it into the thief, but the missile was so cleverly designed that it had recognized Sonic's DNA and was set to destroy only that and nothing else, so the thief yawned calmly as the missile would get within a few inches in front of them before turning again to follow Sonic.

Eventually, the thief got tired of this cat-and-mouse game with the missile, so they detonated it. The smoke from the explosion enabled them to use a sneak attack. Sonic felt a fist hit his face as he went flying across the dirt. Before Sonic could get up, he was hammered into the ground further by an aerial attack. He jumped up and sped at his attacker. They were knocked to their feet, but they just got right back up again as if nothing happened.

This whole battle, Sonic had been trying to pick up on any character traits, but that was pretty hard to do in the midst of a battle like this. He couldn't even tell if it was a male or a female. The thief was so cleverly disguised that all you could see was a black figure with nothing distinctive about it. As they exchanged blows, Sonic tried looking at the body form, but that didn't help either. It just looked…ordinary. Not too skinny, but not fat, either, which ruled out any overweight suspects. But that was already a given: how can someone be so nimble and be obese at the same time? Sonic did notice, however, that the thief did use a lot of technology and seemed to rely more on sneak attacks and weapons than on sheer fighting power. Even though he was fighting this person and trying to turn them in, Sonic couldn't help but admire the thief. They were definitely one of Sonic's most worthy adversaries. They were cunning, agile, powerful, and determined. Usually Sonic's enemies didn't meet all these standards with such excellence as this person. Whoever they were, they were definitely suited for this job.

Sonic had just hit the thief into a boulder, but instead of rushing at them, he waited behind. He had learned not to be foolish and rush in at them, when all they had to do was step aside and hit him from behind. He waited for almost a minute, but nothing happened. The thief just laid there, its black form like a shadow being cast against a rock by the sun. Sonic took a step forward to make sure the thief was still conscious, but when he did, the thief threw something at him. Sonic leaped backwards to avoid the inevitable explosion, but it wasn't the explosion he thought it would be. Pinkish-purple smoke escaped from the capsule that the thief had thrown, and it made its way to Sonic, suddenly engulfing him in a purple aura. The strange gas burned his eyes, and he couldn't keep them open any longer. He felt blinded, as if he were surrounded by nothing, feeling for something that wasn't there. He tried to open his eyes, but the burning was too much for his eyes, so he had to resort to reaching out with his hand to touch any potential hazards in front of him.

The smoke did not disable his hearing, however, as he heard the sound of someone—the thief—jump up into the air and activate rocket shoes.

"NO!" Sonic shouted, but that was all he could do: yell and scream. He was powerless to stop the thief from escaping. Just when he had them; just when he could have ended the thief's global crime spree….

He stood there, helpless, for over a minute. The thief was probably a mile away by then, and he had no idea where to go next. When the purple smoke finally cleared and his eyes could open again, he could see the capsule that was thrown by the thief. He picked it up and saw something written on the side: "MANUFACTURED BY R.H. TECH. IN TORONTO". His mind turned this over for a few moments before he remembered his former pursuer was still lying by the cliff. He walked over to them, only to find that they were already sitting up against a boulder. When Sonic approached the former pursuer, they jolted, only to let out a cry of pain. Sonic continued to walk over to them.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Why were you following me all over Denver?"

The former pursuer held their arm with their other hand and said nothing at first. "Who are you?" Sonic asked again, with more demand in his voice.

The former pursuer, who had all this time worn a mask to conceal their identity, apparently looked up at Sonic and repeated his question. "Who am I?" The former pursuer pulled the mask off their face to reveal something so beautiful that Sonic couldn't control his jaw as it dropped past his neck. She had long, spiked hair similar to Sonic's, except it was purple, not blue. She looked worn out and sweaty, but the effect did nothing to subtract from her beauty. She wore a small amount of make-up, just enough to add the right amount of gorgeousness to her face. She had deep, piercing, yet beautiful blue eyes that made Sonic's heart melt. Sonic almost didn't hear her when she answered his question.

"I am your CIA contact in Denver. My name is Blaze."


	5. Blaze

A/N: Blaze in my story is not Blaze the Cat. In my story she is an OC, a purple hedgehog that looks like Sonic and works for the CIA. I am sorry for any confusion; before I wrote this story, I swear I had no idea there was an actual character named Blaze. I do not own Blaze the Cat, but I do own Blaze the Hedgehog.

**Chapter 5: Blaze**

The sunset was beautiful that evening. The ball of bright yellow seemed to paint the sky orange and red. It was a bright light that seemed to give not only light and beauty, but hope against the ominous purple clouds floating above them. On a sunset like this, off to the east one could even see the stars breaking through the atmosphere, but they were never swallowed by the clouds. The sun gave hope for another day.

By the time Sonic and Blaze reached the outskirts of Denver, night had fallen on the mile-high city. But that didn't mean the light went out. In fact, the city seemed as much alive at night, with all of its buildings alight and the cars packing the streets still in an effort to get home and see their families before going to bed. The city never slept.

The two hedgehogs had found an open restaurant on a corner and decided to have a talk over dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, but it wasn't necessarily fast food. They agreed to pay for their own meals, which were obviously kept minimal due to the lack of serious money for both hedgehogs. It wasn't a date, though. It was a chance to exchange any vital information that had to do with their case only. Although both would rather talk about something else, they were devoted to their work. But they couldn't help beginning the conversation with information on their background and recent history.

"…and that's how we saved the world…for about the twentieth time," Sonic finished proudly.

"Well, I may have never saved the world before, but there's always a first time," said Blaze. "But it doesn't matter to me if I save the world or if I save a cat out of a tree, as long as I'm being helpful, I've done my mission."

"My thoughts exactly," said Sonic. "If more people thought like us, maybe Earth wouldn't need so much saving."

They both smiled, but quickly turned away when they were seen looking at each other. Although they experienced this awkward moment, they continued their conversation.

"So what's your story?" asked Sonic. "What was your life like before the CIA?"

"Well, most of the time I just wandered around the Earth. I was always looking for something. I didn't even know what, but I knew I was looking for something. I thought maybe I was looking for my reason for living, you know, why I'm living here. That's what led me to believe in helping everyone. Our whole reason for being on this planet is to serve others, to participate in the community, to give aid to the needy. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. But I guess you live and learn, you know?"

Sonic seemed to be looking at her in disbelief. He finally said, "Wow, you and I couldn't be much more alike! That's exactly how I feel about life! That and living by your own rules."

"I don't necessarily live by own rules. In fact, I've got rules to follow, and I'm breaking one right now."

"Oh yeah. I guess we should be sharing our information. So, what do you know about the international jewel thief?"

"Next to nothing, unfortunately. It's nearly impossible to get anything on this person. They leave nothing behind: no clues or anything. Whoever they are, they're the perfect person for what they're doing."

"Actually, I've found something…"

Just as Sonic was speaking, their waiter came over to them with their food. "Let's see," said the waiter. "A chicken sandwich for the blue hedgehog and a garden salad for the purple hedgehog. Enjoy."

Forgetting what they were talking about, they both began to inhale their food. They had forgotten how hungry they had become after the long day, and they had both finished their meals in about two minutes. After they were finished and they waited for the waiter to arrive with the bill, Blaze said, "What were you saying again?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the hotel," said Sonic, wiping his face and hands clean with his napkin. "Just in case someone overhears us."

While they waited for the waiter, they started to talk about themselves again. "Like I was saying before," said Blaze. "I actually enjoy working for the CIA. Living by your own rules and being able to help people don't seem to work with each other for me."

"Well I personally hate it," said Sonic. "As soon as this mission is over, I'm turning in my badge. This government stuff is not for me, and besides, I think this is supposed to be just a one-mission thing. The government and I haven't really gotten along too well over the years."

"They made mistakes. It's not your fault. But you shouldn't hate them for it. After all, you're both on the same page as far as doing what's right."

"I don't think so. First of all, I think it's wrong of them to ask me to help them when they were so quick to blame me for everything that Shadow had done. And second, they're not interested in what's right. They're interested in what makes them look good and what gets them reelected. That's my take on all politicians. There's no such thing as a good-hearted politician anymore."

"You're generalizing. There are some really good-willed governments in the world. If there are good people, why would their government be any different?"

"Power goes to their heads. What politicians don't seem to remember is that they _are_ normal people. They're not some special people granted with God-given power like many seem to think. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything about agents," Sonic said quickly when he saw an offended look developing on Blaze's features. "Just the head honchos. Anyway, I just don't really like working for the government. I feel so constrained. I have to do what they tell me."

"Well I happen to enjoy it. You actually do real missions for people, not your own reckless little adventure. And besides, you don't _have_ to follow their rules. You could just quit. Why did you even sign up for this job?"

"Because I knew the government had resources that would be helpful to me on my 'reckless little adventure'. I've done so much for the planet that I don't need to hear things like that being said," said Sonic. Now he was getting offended.

"Look, I'm sorry," Blaze apologized. "We need to stop fighting like this. We're working together, remember?"

"Yeah. And we weren't fighting. We were just having a heated discussion," Sonic chuckled.

The waiter had come after a few minutes with their bill. They split it, then walked out onto the sidewalk and headed for the Denver Marriott. Because it was getting really dark, no one seemed to notice who the two hedgehogs were. Of course, no one had forgotten the little incident this morning, but since things seemed to quiet down, they weren't going to start accosting random people on the streets. The police, however, were still searching for the mysterious blue hedgehog and the thing chasing it around the city.

Sonic and Blaze checked into the hotel, both going to Sonic's room. Before they could turn to walk away, the clerk said, "Oh, Mr. Sonic, I should tell you that your wife and children have arrived. They're waiting in your room upstairs."

Sonic had a completely shocked look on his face, and when he saw Blaze's reaction, he blushed at hearing the clerk mention a wife. "OK," Sonic said in a confused voice as the two hedgehogs walked slowly over to the elevator.

As the door to the elevator opened and the two hedgehogs walked down the hall to the room, Blaze said, "So, you don't like being constrained, huh?" She looked somewhat upset.

"Look, I don't know what that guy was talking about," Sonic explained quickly. "I swear I don't have a wife or kids! There's something weird about this…"

Blaze still seemed a little flustered, but she said nothing as Sonic put his card in and opened the door slowly, preparing himself for possible assassins sent to his hotel room by the jewel thief. But he saw nothing except the darkness in his room.

Sonic closed his door once Blaze entered the room. She made a motion to turn on the lights, but Sonic stopped her. He cocked his head over to the area where the bathroom was behind a corner. Blaze nodded, understanding what this meant. She stood where she was as Sonic tiptoed slowly over to the corner. He started walking casually over to the corner when, all of a sudden, he threw his arms to the left and grabbed a body hiding behind the corner. He threw them on the bed next to him and held them down, ready to attack. He signaled for Blaze to turn on the lights and met his "visitor's" face.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," said Amy dreamily as Sonic held her to the bed.

Sonic quickly stepped away from the bed. "Ugh, Amy, what are you doing here?" he asked. "And where are Tails and Cream? I know they're here, too."

Amy walked over to the closet and Tails opened the door from the inside. Then, Amy walked into the bathroom, and Sonic could hear the shower curtain open. Cream came walking out of the bathroom with a look of guilt on her face. But they all raised an eyebrow when they saw the purple hedgehog standing in the doorway. Amy could also see Sonic looking at her, but not quite as surprised to see this guest. In fact, Amy could see the look in his eyes that she had never seen there before. His eyes were open and his physical self was standing there, but he wasn't there mentally. He had the look in his eyes when nothing matters in the world except one thing. The look that did not lie about a hidden emotion. The look that Amy had, for many years, wished to be in Sonic's eyes when he was looking at her.

"Ehem!" Amy exclaimed to break the silence—and Sonic's trance. "Who are you?" she asked the purple hedgehog with more demand than was necessary.

"My name is Blaze," replied the newcomer. "I'm a CIA agent that was assigned to Denver to assist Sonic in his mission…."

"Yeah, well, I think we can take over for you now," said Amy coldly. "We don't want to 'bother' you."

"Is there a problem?" Blaze asked innocently after seeing the expression written all over Amy's face and the way she spoke to her.

"Amy, knock it off!" yelled Sonic. "She's here to help me, and that's the way it's going to be!"

"That better be the only thing she does," Amy mumbled under her breath. Then she spoke aloud. "So, did you find anything, Sonic?"

"Yep. Let me explain the whole story to you."

They all sat down on the bed and Sonic told them everything, from Blaze following him through the mall to the fight with the international jewel thief up by the mountains. Of course, Sonic was often interrupted by Tails' and Cream's curiosity as well as constant questions from Amy about what Blaze had done to help Sonic, then commenting she could have done better. Sonic would chastise her and apologize to Blaze for Amy's annoying and rude behavior before continuing. He described the fight with the thief in extreme detail in order to get the picture of it in their minds and possibly determine something about the thief. Surprisingly to Sonic, most of them thought it may be Rouge. He said he didn't think Rouge was capable of martial arts like this person was, nor was she as quick. He reminded them that it could be anyone in the world, most likely someone they had never met. But the mysterious nature of the escape was what the others pointed to as evidence that it could be Rouge. She was an expert spy and thief to begin with, and perhaps she had done extensive training and received gadgets to aid her. The purple smokescreen seemed to almost symbolize her, they said. Sonic still disagreed, saying that Rouge was their friend and would never betray them. The smokescreen had actually just reminded Sonic of what he wanted to tell them the most.

"Oh, and guys, we're leaving for Toronto tomorrow morning," he said suddenly.

They all stared at him as if he had just turned green. "Why?" asked Blaze.

"That smokescreen capsule that the thief threw at me had something written on it," Sonic explained to them. "It said: MANUFACTURED BY R.H. TECH IN TORONTO. If we go to Toronto and find this R.H. Tech, maybe we can find out more about the jewel thief. After all, that is my assignment: to find out whom the thief is. It wasn't to chase the thief in order to get the jewels back. The thief probably gets most or all of their equipment from this R.H. Tech, so maybe the supplier of the gadgets will be willing to divulge information. And even if he isn't, well, we'll just have to make him."

"I think we should probably stay in Denver for one more day," suggested Blaze. "Just to see if anything else suspicious turns up. Besides, what if we can't find this R.H. Tech? What if it's being fronted by something else and we can't get access to it?"

"There's nothing more to do here," said Sonic. "The thief got away with the Anasazi jewel, and there's no reason for them to return to Denver. And what if we catch up with the thief at Toronto? We might be able to trap them while they're buying some more of their gadgets or something. Plus, with all the disturbances we've caused in this city, it's no wonder that the police haven't come here to evict us already. I've already called the President and had him get us a private jet to Toronto Airport, so we're definitely going."

Now that that was settled, they all decided it was time to go to bed, seeing as they had less than eight hours before their flight came to pick them up. But there was a problem with the sleeping arrangements: there were only two queen size beds and five people. It was decided that Tails, Amy, and Cream, who happened to be the smaller three, all shared one bed, leaving Sonic and Blaze to share the other, which not only made Amy cranky, but also made Sonic nervous and sweaty. He wasn't going to do anything dramatic in the bed, but just the thought of sleeping in the same bed as Blaze made him feel jittery. By 11:30, they had all climbed into bed and fallen fast asleep.


	6. A Shadow in the Night

**Chapter 6: A Shadow in the Night**

"So how have things been going with Rouge?" Tikal asked Knuckles one morning as they walked through the forest on Angel Island.

"Pretty good," he responded. "Better than I thought it would, actually. So far, Rouge hasn't seen me leave the house at night, and she hasn't said anything about it, so as far as I know, everything's fine."

Tikal looked at him and said, "That doesn't mean too much. She could still have seen you and just not have said anything."

"Why would she do that? Why would she hide something like that from me?"

"Well, you haven't exactly been truthful with her."

"Hey, you're in on this, too. And besides, I'm not allowed to tell her about these meetings. You even told me."

Tikal sighed and changed the subject. "So, do you have any ideas as to who might be stealing all those jewels around the world?"

"No, and I wouldn't know because I can't stay in touch with Sonic or any part of the outside world."

"I didn't say it had to be someone outside Angel Island."

"Oh my God, will you give it a rest? Rouge is completely innocent!"

"Who are you trying to convince here, me or you?"

"Tikal, I don't need to hear this right now, OK? I don't need to convince myself of anything. You, however, need to convince yourself that Rouge is our friend now and she's above stealing. You're lucky I don't tell her anything about what we talk about here."

"But you have to understand that just because she's our friend doesn't mean we have to trust her completely yet. She hasn't exactly proven herself quite yet…."

"How has she not! She's helped us save the world more than once. She's given me back the Master Emerald after she's managed to steal it from me. I've always seen Rouge and been around her. So tell me, how can you argue that it's even physically possible for her to steal jewels when I'm around her all the time?"

There was a period of silence in which both echidnas didn't look at each other and were lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Tikal said quietly, "What's wrong?"

Knuckles looked up at her and saw the Tikal he used to know before Rouge came into his life. He saw the face of a friend that was doing nothing but trying to help him any way she could. He felt tempted to say what was really on his mind, what had really been eating at him lately. He wanted to open his mouth and let out the question that he wasn't sure if he wanted to be answered. He was afraid of his beliefs. But things just weren't what they used to be anymore. Everything had changed, and it wasn't for the better. This was what he needed most right now: someone to talk to about what was bothering him, something that he could never talk to Rouge about. He needed a true friend.

"It's nothing," he muttered after a period of hesitation and apprehension that wouldn't go away.

Tikal gave him a look of disbelief; she knew there was something wrong. "Nothing, huh?" she questioned. "It took you a pretty long time to answer that question."

"I'm fine!" he shouted, but Tikal heard the lie in his voice. She didn't take offense to the yell, nor did she give up on pressing the matter.

Tikal stopped walking, and when Knuckles didn't hear her footsteps, he turned around to see why she stopped. There was the face again. And this time, he couldn't keep it in. "It's Rouge."

He sat down on the grass and closed his eyes. He heard Tikal sit down beside him, and he knew she was waiting for him to tell his story. So he opened his eyes and his mind.

"It's been like this for weeks. I don't know what started it, and I wish I knew how to stop it. I almost feel like…like something's wrong with Rouge and I. We're just not what we were. We used to be so close and open. We would always let each other know how we were feeling, and we could always tell what was going on in the other's world. I just feel like we're drifting apart and I don't know why. I've tried to be close. I've tried to rekindle the flame. But when I do, I feel like I'm forcing myself to love her. I do love her, but I can't escape this nightmare I have every night of us just finally breaking up. Every day, things seem to get worse and worse. I feel like I'm losing her, but I don't want to, but it's my fault that we're separating at all!"

He lay back against the soft grass of the forest and submerged his mind again. He wanted advice. He wanted a helping hand. He wanted to love Rouge like he once did, but he couldn't find that love in him anymore. He remembered what it felt like, and how much he loved that feeling and how he wanted it to never end. He remembered always wanting Rouge and nothing else in the world. He remembered how the world used to be just Rouge and himself. Maybe he had dove into those feelings so much that eventually they just became dried up and hackneyed. He wanted to go back in time and relive the old days when he and Rouge were not even dating. That was when he loved her the most. That was when she was just Rouge, and he was just Knuckles. They were themselves, but now they had become different. The arguing made him love her even more, but now that they faced nothing together, their relationship seemed to evaporate like the last drops of water in an oasis in the middle of the desert. But those drops were still there, as all water that evaporates is still there, just in another form. And sooner or later, whether in the same location or not, that water always manages to make its way back to the ground and start anew. But in order for the drops to fall back to the ground, there must be a storm.

"That's it!" Knuckles suddenly jumped up with an energy that he didn't think he had anymore.

"What's it?" asked a startled Tikal.

"We need something to liven up our lives," Knuckles explained. "We need something big and disastrous to bring us closer. We have nothing exciting in our lives!"

"You don't consider the whole jewel thief crisis to be a big, disastrous incident?" she asked him.

"Yeah, but it's not affecting our lives directly. And don't say it is, because I know what you're going to say!" he added when he saw Tikal open her mouth. "I mean something that is directly harming us and/or the world, and we have to overcome it together and come out stronger in the end. That's what we need!"

"Yeah, that's how all relationships become stronger," said Tikal. "They overcome a huge obstacle in which the lovers must work together to win. But first, I have a little advice that you should pay attention to. Secrets kept can destroy a relationship. And usually, it's not just one of the lovers that have secrets."

"Tikal, really, you could be a little more optimistic about this," said Knuckles. "I've just discovered what I need to keep my relationship with Rouge intact, and you go and say something negative. And what could Rouge possibly be keeping from me?"

"Well, first, that was for your own good. Second, how should I know? I'm not necessarily talking about the whole jewel thief thing. I'm just telling you a fact: relationships fall after secrets have been elicited from the other person, and I don't want to see you and Rouge, whom I do not hate, end up breaking up because you couldn't bring yourselves to tell each other things that you've kept from each other for too long."

"Well, thanks for the advice, but I've got to get home and see Rouge. I'm already falling in love again, and I don't want to miss a minute of being with her."

And before Tikal could even repeat her advice, because she knew he hadn't given it enough thought, Knuckles was running back to his house to see Rouge, the renewed love of his life.

"No! You're wrong!" Rouge shouted to the air.

"Why can't you see it?" she heard the voice speaking to her. "How can you be so blind?"

"You know nothing about me! Nothing!"

"Oh, but I know everything. I can see it all. It will not last much longer. Soon, you will turn away and never look back."

"Leave me alone! I'm begging you! You can't haunt me like this forever!"

"Only until you see the truth. Only until you do what you were supposed to do."

"Well, I'm tired of doing what you want. If you want it done so bad, do it yourself!"

"You know very well I can't do that. And if you don't do what I want, than I will accelerate the destruction of your life as you know it. I promise you that."

"You can kill me if you want. I will not surrender to you!"

"I didn't mean that kind of destruction, but you know what I mean, don't you?"

"No!" she shouted after a moment of silence. "You…can't!"

"I can, and I will. I have my ways of carrying out my promises. You should know that by now. If you don't want to live a life of eternal suffering, then do as you have been instructed!"

It seemed as though the voice had finally obeyed Rouge's original request to leave her alone. There was a new deafening silence in the house. Rouge felt her heart sear inside her chest as if it were a ball of flame, destroying her from the inside out. She knew what the voice had meant. She knew that it would obey her request to leave her alone…permanently, for the rest of her life.

The silence was broken when the door slammed open. There stood Knuckles, like Rouge had never seen him before. Knuckles began to walk towards her, looking ready to hug her, but before he took his second step, Rouge clung to him as if he was the only thing that kept her from falling into a dark abyss.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked with a puzzled, worried look on his face when he saw Rouge come forward at him so desperately.

"I'm just so glad to see you," she said with a relieved-looking smile. "I never want to lose you."

"You never will," he assured her. Knuckles began to think of the possibility that Rouge had just had a terrible nightmare of losing him. He knew all too well what that felt like. He began to think that maybe this was the "storm" that they needed. He felt a joyous sense of relief and happiness. He and Rouge were falling in love all over again, and he never knew it could feel so good.

"I really wish we could go on that vacation," said Rouge after they she had calmed down and they had both sat down on the bed. "I feel like doing nothing else besides spending a whole lifetime with you in paradise."

"I know, but I have to stay here," said Knuckles sadly. "If it weren't for that international jewel thief on the loose, maybe we could. But until this person's caught and put away, we have to stay here."

"Well, I guess this is kind of like a vacation," Rouge said optimistically. "I mean, we have solitude, fresh air, beautiful scenery, and each other. What more could we possibly need?"

"Well, maybe some hamburgers, fries, burritos, potatoes…."

Rouge hit him with the pillow, but he didn't fight back. He was too busy laughing to even get up. She kept hitting him, until finally she held the pillow over his head. She said to him, "I'll take it off if you admit that I'm the only thing you want right now."

"That's kind of hard, because my head's saying one thing, but my stomach's saying another, and right now my stomach's got the upper hand," he replied in between laughs under the pillow.

Rouge sighed. "Well, sooner or later you're heads going to gain the upper hand when it can't breathe anymore," she laughed. They both laughed, and they both convinced themselves that this was why they would never lose each other: they would get bored if they did.

While they were busy fooling around, they heard a voice at the doorway. "Am I interrupting something here?"

"Come on in, Tikal," came Knuckles' voice from under the pillow.

"Um…what exactly are you doing?" Tikal asked curiously.

"Trying to convince this oaf that I'm more important than food," Rouge said simply with a smile on her face.

Tikal laughed and shook her head. "I think you can take it off now. I think he's learned his 'lesson'."

Rouge lifted the pillow off Knuckles' face, and when she did so, he rose up from the bed and said, "Man, that near suffocation made me even hungrier."

Rouge then began to chase him out of the house and around the yard while swinging the pillow at him. It was then that Shadow walked into the house, apparently stopping at Angel Island to visit his friends. He walked in with an eyebrow raised as he said to Tikal, "Should I even ask what's going on out there?"

Tikal smiled and shook her head. "They're just…having a moment, I guess. So how have things been with you?"

"Not too bad," he remarked. "Have you heard from Sonic yet?"

"No, we have no way of keeping in touch with him," Tikal replied. "I thought maybe you knew something."

"I've been around the world and I've seen some countries that have been robbed by the jewel thief. I didn't know so many countries relied on these jewels to keep their economy rolling. Whoever this person is, they could be the sole person responsible for a global economic meltdown. The countries in Asia and Africa that were poor to begin with are even worse off now. You think it's Eggman or one of his servants?"

"I doubt it. He couldn't have broken out of that jail, even if he had all of his technology. And what would his motive be?"

"Did you hear me when I said 'global economic meltdown'?"

"Have you heard in the news anything about Eggman breaking out of jail? And besides, when is Eggman ever this secret about his identity?"

"He could have hired someone."

"Out of prison?"

"He's Eggman. He's done some pretty impossible things in the past. Why is this any different?"

"Did you ever think it could be someone besides Eggman for once?"

"Well, judging from past world domination and/or destruction attempts, I'd say he's just a given at this point. And you still think it's Rouge, right?"

"Are you another one of them that thinks Rouge can suddenly do no wrong now that she's our 'friend'?"

"Tikal, you need to learn how to trust newcomers. Just because she was like that before doesn't mean she hasn't changed."

"It doesn't mean she has, either."

"I used to be bad, but I changed. So why can't Rouge?"

"You didn't know what you were doing! That's how you were designed. You had no choice! She does!"

"You need to learn how to accept people. Or do you just have something against Rouge?" he said with an eyebrow raised.

"What? Oh my God, you can't be serious! There's no way I'm jealous of that…that…"

"Well then, what's your problem with Rouge?"

"I don't have a problem with Rouge!" she insisted.

Shadow stopped pressing the issue, but he wasn't convinced. He walked back outside and saw Knuckles and Rouge lying on the grass next to the house. His brow furrowed as he began to think about something. He walked away down the forest thinking about this thing that was eating at him. He had to have evidence that he was correct, and even when he had it, he wouldn't want to believe it.

"I love you," said Rouge as they got in their beds to go to sleep that night.

"I love you too," replied Knuckles. "I always will."

They turned the lights off and closed their eyes, ready to embrace dreams of happiness for once. Within fifteen minutes, Rouge was sound asleep, but Knuckles was climbing out of bed at that moment and tiptoeing to the door. He opened it, stepped outside, closed it behind him, and walked to Tikal's house. As he walked through the forest, he stopped to look at something when he heard one footstep behind him. He quickly turned around, hoping he wouldn't see Rouge standing there with a misunderstood look on her face. He did get what he hoped for, but he also did not see anyone there. He could have sworn someone was there, but he turned around again and kept walking, keeping an eye and ear out for any suspicious moves or noises. He didn't hear or see anything by the time he got to Tikal's house, so he figured he was probably just thinking about Rouge so much that he imagined her following him. So he put it out of his mind and entered the house of his princess, where he would continue to learn about the mysterious disappearance of his long-lost tribe.


	7. The RH Warehouse

**Chapter 7: The R.H. Warehouse**

"Do we even know where to start looking for this warehouse?" asked Tails. "This is one of the biggest cities in the world. It could be anywhere!"

"Well, I guess we better start looking," said Blaze.

They stepped out of the Toronto International Airport and found themselves on the outskirts of the large urban center of Toronto. Even these city limits were denser than Denver, and they could see some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world in the distance, such as the Needle. There were a seemingly infinite number of people bustling along the sidewalks and in the cars driving down the packed streets. Not to mention all of the signs and stores looked different. Everything had some sort of French twist to it, much to the delight of the girls. They stared open-mouthed at the beautifully crafted gowns and dresses displayed in the shop windows, but then reversed their smile when they remembered their mission—and their pocketbook limits.

They took a bus to the inner part of the city, which proved to be the New York City of Canada. There were millions of people in this city, which proved both good and bad for the CIA agents and their friends. There were many people to ask if they had seen anything that seemed out of the ordinary, particularly a warehouse. But no one they ran into knew anything, and some couldn't even understand them. And besides, such a big city made it incredibly easy to hide a warehouse that supplied criminals with weapons. They tried to bring up the subject of the international jewel thief, which aroused even those who couldn't speak English, but did nothing to help, indicating (in English or not) that they knew nothing.

"Sonic, are you sure what you saw was right?" Blaze questioned. "What if this place doesn't exist anymore? The Canadian government may have demolished it because they found out it was supplying the international jewel thief with his or her weapons."

"I know what I saw," Sonic said. "It said it was manufactured by R.H. Tech in Toronto. We're in the right place."

"But what if we're not?" Amy asked. "What if the jewel thief is out somewhere else, plundering some country of its jewels? Isn't that supposed to be your first priority: to keep the thief from depredating the world any further?"

"No, my mission is to bring in the thief. My orders were from the President. It would be useless to defend all those countries as long as the thief is on the loose. We need to bring this criminal in and end their stealing once and for all."

"Sonic's right," said Blaze. "Let the countries' armies defend themselves. We need to catch this crook."

"Of course you agree with Sonic," Amy blurted out.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted. "What is your problem?"

"Please Amy!" said Cream. "Be polite to our new friend!"

"Amy, I don't know what you hate me for, but I'm sorry for whatever it is," Blaze said to try to calm her down.

"Don't be sorry, Blaze," Sonic said with a sidelong frown at Amy. "Amy can be like this at times. You just have to ignore her."

Amy's face then turned from mad to stunned. "Sonic…"

"Sonic, you don't have to say that to her," Blaze said. "It's OK."

Sonic sighed. "Sorry, Amy," he forced out of his mouth.

Amy continued to walk with her head slightly hung as the five friends walked down the sidewalk, asking everyone they saw if they knew anything, but they never found anyone who knew anything. Someone did, however, mention to them a hardware store that they knew of on Front Street, called Front Hardware. This wasn't exactly what they were looking for, but they figured they would try it anyway. And maybe they would know where to find this R.H. warehouse, if it even existed.

They thanked the man for his help and walked to the nearest bus station and waited a few minutes. The man had said it was somewhat north of their present location, about two miles. The bus got there, and all five boarded it quickly. They couldn't find five seats near each other, so they split up. While on the bus, they got a chance to look at some of the local shops and restaurants scattered all over the city. The fact that it was nighttime seemed to add to the livelihood of Toronto. Not unlike every other city in the world, all of its lights were bright, its stores open, and its residents crowding the sidewalks. And yet, none knew that there was a criminal weapon warehouse hidden somewhere within their boundaries, at least according to Sonic. But again, this was a city. Nothing seemed to surprise city dwellers. If something ever happened, chances are it had happened before in their city.

After nearly ten minutes, the bus finally turned onto Front Street, meaning only another half mile to go. But the bus stopped on the next corner, and the bus driver indicated that this was the stop for Front Street, so the five of them got off and walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the store. The half mile actually didn't seem so long as they crossed streets and passed stores and finally made it to the hardware store. It seemed typical enough, confirming some beliefs amongst them that they had been led to some random hardware store in the city that was known among the public. Still, they decided to go in and investigate.

A bell rang as they entered. They saw several aisles of different types of household and commercial tools, but nothing suspicious. There was, however, only one cashier on duty, which seemed awkward if this was truly such a popular store. There were many people in it, browsing among the shelves, searching for that wrench to fix a leaking pipe at home or another light bulb for the one that had blown out in the kitchen ceiling. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, which was why Sonic began to suspect something.

"Excuse me," he said to the clerk. "Could you tell me where I can find the R.H. warehouse?"

The clerk, who was a stout, older gentleman with balding hair, widened his eyes in shock for a split second before bringing forth a look of misunderstanding. "I'm sorry, but I'm not aware of such a warehouse. I know every one in Toronto, and I know there isn't one called R.H. You must have the wrong place."

"Thanks," said Sonic, and he truly meant it. He turned around and walked back to the front door, his friends following him, but instead of walking out the door, he took a left down the aisle next to him. Although they couldn't understand where Sonic was going with this, his friends followed him, and when he stopped in front of the "EMPLOYEES ONLY" door, so did they. He made sure no one was looking before quickly and quietly opening the door and went in. Both he and his friends managed to get in without being seen.

When Cream closed the door, it was pitch black. Sonic stepped forward, and then suddenly felt himself falling down a set of stairs he hadn't seen. "I'm fine," he said when he rose to his feet at the bottom. "Just watch your step."

They all felt for the railing as they cautiously walked down the stairs in the darkness. When they reached the bottom, they saw a small light on the wall in front of them. They walked over to it and noticed that there was a small black arrow on the light, pointing downward. Sonic pushed the elevator button and the door opened instantly. A small bell rang as they entered the elevator and turned around to face the door, only to see someone approaching them from the foot of the stairs. "Stop!" he ordered, but by then the elevator doors were sliding closed, and the man disappeared in front of them as they slowly descended.

When they got to the bottom, the doors opened and they were in a small, closed room. They walked to the other side and opened the door. They opened their eyes in awe, for before them were large shelves, crates, and machines all stacked throughout what seemed to be a large warehouse underground. The door had opened up to a catwalk passing over the lower level.

"Guys, welcome to the R.H. Warehouse," Sonic told them. "I thought this place seemed a little suspicious."

Before he could tell them what he wanted them to do, they heard the elevator doors opening in the room behind them, and they ran down the catwalk and split up when they came to several more of them. They heard the man behind them running after them, and all of a sudden, Sonic heard the sound of a rocket approaching from above. It hit part of the ceiling above him, and some of the supports collapsed. He ran from the collapsing beams and fell when the catwalk collapsed under him.

He quickly rose from the ashes, expecting another rocket, but instead he saw two guards running at him with guns pointed at him. He quickly ran behind a large generator and saw an open corridor. He ran for it down the dark hallway as he heard shots being fired at him from behind.

He entered another large storage room and saw Tails on the catwalk above him, running from another guard firing rockets at him. Sonic used the shelves and crates to jump up to the catwalk, where he blew the guard off the cliff and down to the ground with his tornado, causing the guard to be knocked out. He wasn't out to kill these guys, but he would harm them if they were harming him. And besides, the whole reason he was here was to get information on the identity of the international jewel thief. And to do that, he needed the others to distract the guards while he searched the warehouse. He told his plan to Tails, then jumped back down to the ground and ran off down the aisles of shelves, searching for the smoke bomb that the jewel thief had used. This would confirm his suspicions and lead him to seek out the manager of the warehouse and interrogate him.

Blaze jumped out of the way of an oncoming bullet and dove behind a large shelf. "Come on out, you little rodent!" shouted the obnoxious guard. "I don't want to hurt a lady," he added sarcastically.

At hearing this, Blaze turned around so fast she almost fell over. She leapt into the air and took out the guard with such speed that he didn't even get a chance to see her. He just fell hard to the ground. "What's that?" Blaze asked with a smirk. "Yeah, that's usually the response I get from creeps like you."

She turned and ran past the high shelves and racks of any terrorist weapons imaginable. If some of the world's most dangerous terrorists could get down here, then the whole world could be in some serious trouble. They had bombs of every shape and size, ray guns, machine guns, biological weapons, nuclear missiles, and jet fighters in a hangar nearby to name a few things. One explosion could decimate the whole city above them. But it was situated in such an open area that Blaze was curious as to how any dangerous criminals could even get in here. They would have to walk through the open streets of Toronto where everyone could see them. There had to be some underground way into this place, and Blaze made it her mission to find it.

She started down another corridor when she heard screaming coming from the room in front of her. She recognized it as Amy—she must have been captured. Blaze started running down the hall and turned in the direction of the scream, and she caught a glimpse of one of the guards holding Amy with a gun pointed at her head.

"All right," the guard muttered to his hostage as Blaze ran behind a large crate. "Now let's see if we can't get something out of you. What are you punks doing here?"

"I-I don't know!" cried Amy. "Let me go! I just came along with the others. I don't know why we're here!"

"Look, if you don't tell me where the others are, I won't hesitate to kill you! Where are they?"

"Right here!" Blaze shouted as she jumped out from behind the crate. With the guard distracted, Amy freed herself from his grasp and knocked him out cold with her Piko Piko Hammer before Blaze could even finish saving her.

"Aren't you going to say 'thanks for saving my life'?" Blaze asked Amy.

"In case you didn't notice, I took care of him myself," replied Amy.

"Yeah, but if I hadn't gotten his attention, you'd still be a hopeless hostage."

"I can take care of myself!"

"Is that why you let yourself get captured?"

"Shut up!"

"Amy, what is your problem? I haven't done anything to you, and you start off hating me."

"Don't pretend you don't know."

"If this is about Sonic, you need to open your eyes. I'm not about to go out with him on a date—"

"So then why did you?"

Blaze hesitated before speaking. "It wasn't a date! We were just two government agents meeting and discussing information."

"Am I supposed to believe you?"

"Yes! We're on the same side! You shouldn't be letting your emotions get in the way of your mission—"

Blaze stopped at the sound of the cocking of a gun above them. Both hedgehogs looked up to see a man in a suit looking down at them. They noticed that he was the man they saw at the counter in the store above them, but more menacing looking now. He had oily black hair pushed backward and a huge smirk on his face. "Well, well, well," he said in a deep voice. "If it isn't the well-renowned CIA agent, Blaze. It's about time your government has found me."

"It wouldn't have taken so long had we actually been trying to find you, Hernandez," Blaze remarked calmly in the face of a gun.

"So what exactly were you trying to accomplish by intruding onto my premises?" he asked. "You didn't really think you could put an end to my profitable business, did you?"

"Actually, I wasn't sent here for that reason. I was interested in speaking to you about one of your customers."

"Ah, I'm sorry, but I can't reveal any personal information about my customers," he glared. "No matter who they are."

"You don't recognize a deal when you see one, do you, Hernandez?" she smirked back at him. "Either you tell me what I need to know, or your business will be seen in a public court. Your choice."

"My dear, how can you possibly be giving me orders when I am the one holding all the cards?"

"I have reinforcements on the way. They'll be here shortly to coerce you."

"I'm afraid that, though I may not be able to tell when you are proposing a deal to me," he chuckled. "I can identify a lie when I see one, especially when I have evidence to disprove you." He motioned to the side of the large room, and the lights dimmed as a screen unfolded from behind the wall showing a radar screen with a 100-mile radius. "No government knows about this warehouse, and I intend to keep it that way." He motioned once more and several guards came out from the side rooms. All of them had guns pointed at the girls.

Blaze merely shook her head. "Just because I said 'reinforcements on the way', doesn't mean they're not already here," she smirked.

"Yes, yes, I know about your new recruit and his friends," Hernandez said with an equally smug face. "It's only a matter of time before they are brought here."

"You underestimate us," said Blaze. "Not the wisest of decisions at a time like this."

"I assure you, Blaze, that my men are fully capable of handling your new friends," he replied. Amy could clearly see that this conversation was becoming a battle of wits, each trying to psyche the other out.

"Oh, I don't think so," said Blaze. "You don't know Sonic."

"So, is that your new friend? How did you get him to help you? Take him on a date?" Hernandez enjoyed toying with her like this, and when he saw the expression on the pink hedgehog's face, he new he had hit a soft spot. "Or did I just interrupt a fight between the two of you over who he likes more. I think…"

"…you had better be quiet!" Amy yelled suddenly.

Hernandez looked at her as if she had just destroyed one of his most expensive weapons. But his expression quickly turned to delight. "I'm sorry, I must be mistaken. Sonic is your boyfriend, then?"

"Don't let him get to you, Amy," Blaze warned her companion. "He's just trying to get us to start fighting." She turned to Hernandez. "It's pretty sad when you have to divide us in order to gain the upper hand, Hernandez, especially when you have the guns."

Hernandez then thrust his gun out toward Blaze, who didn't even flinch. "Find them, now!" Hernandez shouted to his men.

After all of the guards dispatched, Blaze looked back up at their supposed captor. "So where were we," she said as if she were holding the gun at him. "Oh yes, we were just about to discuss one of your customers in particular."

"You honestly think I won't shoot you?" Hernandez said not as calmly.

"Hernandez, I know you would. But I also know that you can't," she smiled.

Before Amy could react, a bullet propelled out of the gun in Hernandez's hand and fired right at Blaze, but she moved so fast that she almost made the bullet visible. Amy could only hear her jumping from shelf to shelf as gunshots fired out throughout the room, each one missing Blaze by several feet. Clearly, Hernandez was losing sight of his enemy, and so he did what Blaze was afraid of: he pointed his gun at Amy.

"If you value the life of your pink friend here," he shouted seemingly to the air. "You will return to that spot to her left."

Blaze seemed to appear out of thin air as she returned to her location; even Hernandez was startled. But he quickly recomposed himself and began to sound much more in control.

"Now, I believe you asked me a question and I never answered it. Could you repeat it?" he asked with the gun pointed at Blaze again.

She knew what he meant by it, so she remained silent. "What?" sneered Hernandez. "You forgot already? Well, I guess we have no more business here."

"Why don't you just kill us off, Hernandez?" Blaze asked. "Since we know about your warehouse, wouldn't you want us to die with that knowledge?"

"Of course I would, and you will. But I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see your final, pathetic moments of 'glory' and how your brilliant career will come crashing down before me. Everyone loses once in their life, Blaze. And your luck just ran out."

"Really?" Blaze asked, still smirking. "Then why are you the one who's out of bullets?"

Hernandez stopped. He pulled his trigger, but nothing came out. He quickly turned to run, but Blaze was in front of him before he had even spun around. He turned the other way, only to meet the pink hedgehog blocking his only other escape route. In his fury at being outsmarted, he threw his gun at Blaze, which she caught and tossed to Amy. Blaze herself pulled out her own pistol, fully loaded, and forced Hernandez against the wall.

"Now, I think I was about to ask you a question," Blaze said, now realistically in control. "Amy, do you remember…oh, now I remember!" she said sarcastically. Blaze then turned to face Hernandez with the most serious face Amy had seen her use during this whole conversation. "What do you know about the international jewel thief?"

"You think you have me?" Hernandez said in a desperate attempt to sound calm. "I have guards—"

"Enough, Hernandez!" Blaze shouted with a frustrated tone. "It's over. You've lost. Now answer the question. And I'm not afraid to use the pistol."

"Yes you are," he reminded her. "You need me alive to give you my knowledge."

"Hmmm," said Blaze. "I suppose you're right. I guess we'll have to find some other means of persuasion. Amy, would you mind?"

Amy could tell what Blaze was getting at, so she jumped back down to the floor and ran over to a large weapon, threatening to destroy it.

"Now, we can make this easy, Hernandez," Blaze said to him. "Or it can get pretty messy in here. Now tell me what I need to know!"

"Well, first of all you should know that if your friend damages that machine, this whole city will be blown sky high," he warned her.

"Plenty of other valuable merchandise in this warehouse," said Blaze, not phased by his statement. "And I've got plenty of time."

Hernandez made no response, refusing to surrender any information. Blaze smacked him on the forehead with the barrel of her gun. "Please don't make me repeat myself," she said, now looking angry. "Who is the international jewel thief? Where are they now?"

"I don't know," he replied simply, despite the fact that the gun had left him with a gash bleeding down his face.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Blaze asked frustratingly. "You've been doing business with them for some time now. You must be able to contact them in some way."

"What are you talking about? I've never done business with them!"

"Maybe you have, and you didn't know it."

Hernandez still looked truly confused. "I guess I need to explain myself," Blaze said in an annoyed voice. "I had a recent encounter with the thief in Colorado, but they managed to escape. They left behind the capsule which had contained some sort of purple smokescreen. And it said on the capsule: MANUFACTURED BY R.H. TECH IN TORONTO."

Hernandez looked at her. "And you actually believe this criminal? Tell me, how did the label look?"

"It was hand-written, and—"

"You fool!" he cried. "You, a government agent, would believe a hand-written label, especially when the criminal wrote it?"

Blaze blushed slightly. "We have to take everything seriously," she muttered. "And besides, I know you have stocks of such a smokescreen here. You're a criminal, so why should I trust you?"

"You can look through my entire stock of smokescreens and I assure you that you will not find any capsules that would resemble this one. That thief is clearly trying to mislead you!"

"Blaze, what if he's right?" Amy said suddenly.

Blaze thought for a moment. "Well, I guess we don't," she said finally. "So I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to take you into custody—"

"What! But I—"

"—until it's confirmed whether or not you are guilty."

"But I told you what I could! You can't go back on that deal!"

"First of all, Hernandez, I can do whatever I want. I'm the one with the gun. Second of all, I'm not the type of person to go against a deal, nor have I. You didn't tell me what I wanted to know, so I can bring you in to the CIA. Boy, I can just imagine the promotion—"

Suddenly, the door below them exploded. Sonic, Tails, and Cream came flying out, followed by several guards. The guards began firing relentlessly at their targets, and missed every time. It only took Sonic and the others a matter of a few seconds to dispatch of the guards. After doing so, all three turned to look at Blaze, who continued to hold Hernandez at gunpoint.

"All right, Blaze!" Sonic shouted. "So did he tell you anything yet?"

"Yes, actually," she said. "He told me that we have just wasted several hours in Canada. That label was a fake, designed to throw us off the thief's trail."

"Do you believe him?" Sonic asked with an eyebrow raised.

"It does make sense though," Blaze replied. "I had a feeling that label might have been a fake."

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Tails asked curiously, pointing to Hernandez.

Blaze smiled. "We're taking him back to Washington. Come on, Raul."

He grumbled as he was escorted out of his own warehouse by his rival to the airport, all the while enduring stares of amazement and anger.


	8. Alone in the Jungle

**Chapter 8: Alone in the Jungle**

They arrived in Washington within a few hours and were led immediately to the CIA, where the agency guards accosted Hernandez and took him to the holding cells, where he would await his trial. The others were led up to the bridge, where they met a roomful of agents and operatives practically jumping on them asking questions.

"People, please!" said the chief of staff. "You will all get your questions answered! Please, step away from the agents!"

The five of them finally got some breathing room as the other CIA operatives backed off. As soon as she could, Blaze started giving commands. "All right, first I want an update on the nature and date of Hernandez's trial. Clark, tell the press we are not revealing anything until we know exactly what's going on. Johnson, make sure Hernandez and his men are being constantly under our eyes. He can get away, and we can't risk that now. Davis, tell the Canadian government that he is being tried in this country, and if they don't comply, remind them that they were the fools that were ignorant of his headquarters being situated in one of their biggest urban areas. Spencer, send an apology letter to the mayor of Denver and the governor of Colorado for all of the trouble we caused there and that we will give necessary reparations. No, Davis, we will not apologize to the Canadian government. Well, what are you all waiting for? Get going!" This was all said in a matter of only thirty seconds.

"Would you like my job?" said one of the agents sarcastically. This man was apparently one of Blaze's superiors.

"Honestly, Mr. Stanford, I don't know how you do it everyday," she replied in an exhausted voice.

"So are you gonna tell me what happened?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, but I'm going down to the break room to get some coffee, so you'd better come with me."

Sonic and the others were still in awe at Blaze as she walked out of the room with Stanford. She turned around and said, "Oh, sorry. You guys can come, too."

They followed her and her boss down the stairs and through the hallways. "So, any luck with the thief yet?" whispered Stanford.

"Ugh," Blaze said annoyed. "Whoever they are, they're not making my job any easier. We thought me had something in Toronto, but it just led to that whole Hernandez affair, and…"

"You've got to let these old cases go," said Stanford as they walked past another agent.

"Sir, when I saw Hernandez up there with a gun pointed at my head, I had to act."

"But not the way you did, according to what I've heard. Apparently, you refused to let the _guards_ restrain him," he said with an eyebrow raised. "Which, I remind you, is their job."

"Sir, I couldn't risk letting him get away again, not after last time…"

"Well, we all saw that when you yelled at Johnson to make absolutely sure that Hernandez couldn't have a hope in heaven to escape."

"Are you saying that I shouldn't have been so stringent?"

"Blaze, this is more than just letting a criminal go. It's about your vendetta against Hernandez."

Blaze did not respond. "I know that you've made some mistakes in the past, but every agent does—"

"Not the amount or nature of mine."

"You can't be so hard on yourself. You can't let these old mishaps affect your present situation. You were sent to Denver to aid Sonic, and then I find out you're in Toronto holding a gun at Hernandez."

"Excuse me, sir, but I have to correct you. It was Sonic who made the decision to go to Toronto, and for good reason at the time. We discovered the warehouse that the capsule mentioned, and there was Hernandez—"

"And you pulled out your gun when you could. I have a feeling that if it were someone else, you wouldn't have acted so viciously."

"I let him get away!"

"It happens, even to the best of us."

Blaze made no response again as they entered the break room. "I know that bringing him in meant a lot to you. But you've brought him in now. Let it go, Blaze. For everyone's sake."

She sighed as she fixed her coffee. She and her boss went over to the table, and her friends followed her. They had heard everything that she and her superior were saying, but they didn't want to hit a soft spot for Blaze. Even Amy was starting to respect her.

Suddenly, an alarm rang out. "Come on!" Stanford shouted. "Sonic and Blaze, return to the bridge with me. You other three will have to wait down here."

The three agents ran down the hall and up the stairs into the large bridge room. They met another huge crowd of operatives all standing in front of the giant screen on the wall. It showed a map of South America, and it highlighted the borders of Brazil. They all watched as the screen zoomed in on Rio de Janeiro, and within a few seconds, a face appeared.

"Good morning," said the man, using a Portuguese dialect. "This is Santos Pasqual, the leader of Brazil. Our government has received threatening messages from the international jewel thief. He or she is vowing to take the sacred Amazonian Emerald, which has long been guarded by the ancient temple deep within the jungle. Most of our own agents are on other cases and we are unable to send the military into the jungle to protect the jewel. We hope that you will answer our pleas and send agents to the Amazon. We shall be most grateful."

The face disappeared and the screen shut off. Immediately, everyone in the room began to converse among themselves, discussing who would be sent or if they should send someone.

"Attention!" shouted Stanford over the noise. "Your attention, please! We will respond to this cry for help," he said. "By sending Sonic and Blaze to Brazil tonight."

"Are you sure about this, Mr. Stanford?" asked one of the agents. "They just came back from Toronto today."

"Yes, and that is why I am sending them. They have more knowledge than any of us, and it is still fresh in their minds. Sonic and Blaze, meet me in my office for your mission briefing."

The two hedgehogs followed Stanford out of the room and prepared themselves for their mission.

"So, wait, let me get this straight," said Tails. "We're going to Brasilia now?"

"Yeah," replied Sonic.

"Where exactly is this jewel?" asked Amy.

"In a temple in the Amazonian jungle," said Blaze. "We have to locate it, but this could be dangerous, since the thief is probably in the jungle right now looking for the jewel."

"We can handle it," Tails said optimistically as they all boarded the plane.

It was an overnight flight, so they all slept as they passed over the Caribbean Sea and into the heart of the Amazon. That next morning, the plane touched down at the airport in Brasilia, and they were taken to the car rental just outside the airport. The attendant directed them to their vehicle: a small green jeep. Sonic told the attendant that they wouldn't need one, but the attendant insisted, saying it was courtesy of the Brazilian government. After much additional pressure from Amy and Cream, who were more eager to see the sights than to catch the jewel thief, Sonic eventually caved and got into the driver's seat. They pulled out and drove down the road.

The sights they saw in the city were not what the girls wanted to see. There were many people sitting on the streets, begging for money. They were passing through the poor section of the city, and it was clear to them that Brazil had a long way to go to catch up to the United States economically. Almost every building seemed to be a run-down tenement or a small, poor shop. There were a few wealthy establishments, but they tended to be on the same block, particularly away from the tenements. They could barely continue to drive by as some children, with no shirt or shoes on and looking rather dirty, attempted to gain their attention by sticking their hands out and pointing to their stomachs. But Sonic continued to drive on.

Finally, they reached the outskirts of town and approached the jungle. The road followed a nearby creek, presumably one of the many creeks of the Amazon basin. Everything about the forest was different. There were hundreds of exotic animals and plants everywhere they looked. The forest just seemed so—alive. It was colorful, noisy, and busy with animals flying and crawling everywhere. They started to hear a bird chirping, and it must have been following them, because the sound followed them for some time.

"Does anybody else hear that loud noise?" Cream asked.

"It sounds just like a bird," said Amy. "But why is it getting louder?"

Blaze looked out above the car and saw no bird above them or even near them. "There's no bird anywhere. What is that?"

Sonic's brow furrowed for a minute, then his eyes widened. "Everyone, get out of the car!" he shouted as he dove out of the still-moving vehicle.

They all dove out and watched the car drive itself right into the river, where it exploded right before their eyes.

"That could have been us!" Cream exclaimed.

"It was supposed to be us," said Sonic.

"Do you think the Brazilian government is responsible?" asked Tails.

"I think the thief knows we're here," Blaze said.

They all looked around, waiting for an attack that didn't come. The forest had suddenly grown ominously silent.

"I'm scared," Cream said.

"Yeah, imagine what that thief can do to us if they can somehow install a bomb in our car before we even get it," Amy said worriedly.

"Let's just keep moving," said Blaze. "We're more vulnerable if we stay in one spot. And try to stick together!"

They continued to follow the path that they were driving on, but now they were looking over their shoulder every now and then. Suddenly, a beep startled them and they all turned frantically, ready for an onslaught. But then, Sonic noticed that the beep was coming from his communicator, so he opened it up.

The leader of Brazil stood before Sonic in holographic mode, though he was only about a foot tall. "I'm sorry if I startled you," he apologized.

"How'd you get my code, sir?" Sonic asked the man.

"The CIA delivered it to me," he replied. "We have been watching you and we noticed that the jeep that we provided you had a bomb installed on it. I assure you—"

"—that it wasn't you. I know," said Sonic.

"Well, we have no idea how the thief could have done such a thing," said Pasqual. "That jeep was monitored around the clock."

"Of course!" Blaze said suddenly. They all turned to look at her.

"It was Hernandez," she explained. "That scoundrel couldn't let us get away with bringing him in, so he must have made a quick call to an associate down here and ordered him to find out where we were and kill us any way he could. But how could Hernandez call him if he was in jail?"

"Maybe the guards weren't keeping their eyes on him at all times," suggested Tails.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to fire them," said Blaze. They all laughed.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're all safe," said Pasqual. "I also contacted you to tell you that you are approaching your settlement for the time being. We have prepared for you a hut about five miles from the temple. Do not try to attempt to get to the temple tonight. It will take the thief a long time to get there even if he or she knows its coordinates. It's not easy to find in the jungle, especially since it is well hidden. Good night," he finished, and his blue image disappeared into thin air as Sonic closed the communicator.

They had reached the hut about ten minutes after talking with Pasqual, and they were all going to bed. Surprisingly enough, they all had their own rooms. They said goodnight to each other and put out the fire in the main room.

Sonic almost immediately went to sleep. He started dreaming about Blaze and how wonderful she was at her job. He was dreaming about her beauty and her commanding personality. He was dreaming about her loyalty and aggressiveness. He was dreaming about being in love with her.

Then, all of a sudden, his dream grew dark. He only saw black in front of him, until he moved his head and saw Blaze lying asleep or possibly unconscious on the floor half-swallowed in black. He noticed that she was slipping into the darkness and that she was still unaware of what was happening. He made a dive for her, but then he heard her voice reverberating throughout his dream. It wasn't coming from her mouth, however. He was so busy searching for the source of her voice that he just turned to see her hand, the only part of her left in the light, pass into black. He jumped into the black after her, not caring what was back there, not caring if he never saw the outside world again, not caring about anything but her….

He awoke when he hit a mattress, and he was startled to find that it was not his own. He turned to his left and nearly fell out of the bed. Blaze sat there, wide-eyed, just staring at him.

"What happened?" Sonic asked the question that they both wanted to know.

"You had a nightmare," she said. "You dreamt I was falling and you were trying to catch me. Funny how you just happened to land in my bed."

He hugged her suddenly before she could say anymore. Almost instantaneously, she pushed him away and took a good, long look at him in the dark. Then she lunged forward and they connected. They collapsed onto the bed and continued to slide their hands over each other's bare skin and cling to each other as if they could not live without the other. "You knew?" Sonic suddenly asked as he managed to tear his mouth away from her face.

"Because I had the same dream," said Blaze. They rolled over and continued to satisfy themselves.

"I can't live without you," Sonic admitted to her.

"The feeling looks pretty mutual," she remarked.

They pulled the sheets over their heads. "I've never felt this way before," said Blaze.

Sonic paused. "Have you ever been in love?"

"No," she said. "This is the only love that exists in the world." She smothered his face with her lips.

"We need to escape," he said.

"We are safe," she assured him.

"How long have you been waiting to do this?"

"A lifetime."

He looked down at her. "Where can we go?"

"This place is perfect."

"You lie."

She stopped and looked him in his eyes. "We don't have to worry about anyone here."

"Your thoughts betray you."

"Where can we go?" she repeated his question to him.

"Nowhere," he remarked. "The world doesn't condone affairs like this."

"Why must we keep it to ourselves?"

"Your career…"

"…can go to Hell."

"No."

"They deserve to know."

"We have a mission," he reminded her.

"Yes, we do," she said solemnly.

They heard a barely audible buzzing noise. Sonic got up from the bed and looked at the nightstand where Blaze had placed his communicator. He walked over to it and opened it. There stood a face he hadn't seen in awhile.

"Tikal," said Sonic groggily. "What's up?"

"I can't tell you here," she said. She was crying.

"Where are you?" he asked concernedly.

"Angel Island," she said. "Bring all of them with you. Something terrible has happened."

Sonic told her he would, then shut off the communicator.

"Who was that?" Blaze asked.

"A friend," he replied.

Blaze looked at him. "But what about our mission?" she asked.

"It can wait," he said flatly. "Something serious has obviously happened. We'll come back here when we've finished up there. Good night."

Their lips touched one last time as Sonic walked out of Blaze's room and back to his own. As he walked down the hall, he didn't hear the quiet pain of Amy, who was crying in her own room, for she had just made it back to her own bed after walking around when she heard someone.


	9. The Mistake

Chapter 9: The Mistake 

"You really have no choice in the matter."

"I'm tired of being your slave!" shouted Rouge.

"Slave? You don't know slavery. You're lucky that you only have to do this."

"Will you leave me alone?" she pleaded.

"Not until you fulfill your obligations."

"No."

"Then he will die."

Rouge cringed. "You won't be able to kill him."

"You really think that? I have many resources. You should know by now that I'm capable of anything. How do you think I figured out that you love him?"

Rouge did not respond. "I guess it was obvious though, the way you just have it all over your face—"

"Shut up!"

"You know, you really make it easy for me to find what bothers you so much, but then again I know you so well."

"You're wrong, again."

"I promise you, I will kill him if you don't finish the job. I suggest you make the right decision."

The voice had gone away for now, and Rouge was relieved. She sat on the bed and thought long and hard about what to do next. It was then that Shadow came in to the small hut.

"How's it going?" he asked.

Rouge sighed. "I'm…fine."

Shadow raised his eyebrow, indicating that he knew she was lying. "What's wrong?"

She didn't say anything. "Rouge, you know you can tell me anything. I'm your friend. What's troubling you so much? I've seen it in your eyes."

She still made no reply. "It's Knuckles, isn't it?"

She looked at him for the first time. "What?"

"I guess you haven't noticed," he said.

"Noticed what?" she asked. She was eager to put the spotlight of the conversation on someone else.

Shadow sighed as he began his story. "The other night, I saw Knuckles sneak out of the house. I wondered where he was going, so I followed him. He was going to Tikal's house."

Rouge's ears twitched. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Listen, I don't doubt that Knuckles loves you. He shows that pretty well. But I think he's hiding something."

"You think he's cheating on me, don't you?" she said flatly.

"I'm only telling you what I saw."

"And insinuating things about Knuckles. You know, Shadow, I really don't need this right now."

"I just thought you should know about it."

"Did you ever think that maybe he was going to check on something?" she asked.

"What would he be checking on?"

She was silent for a moment. "I don't know."

"That's what has me puzzled. Like I said, I don't mean to say that I don't think Knuckles loves you. But I just feel like something's wrong here—"

"Stop," she said suddenly.

He obeyed her and sat there silently. "I trust him. Knuckles would not do that to me! He wouldn't do that to her! He wouldn't do that to himself!"

"Maybe I should tell you more," he said.

"What, have you decided to start spying on my boyfriend?"

"You'll understand when I tell you. Back at Tails' house, the day we were all leaving, and everyone was upstairs getting ready, Knuckles and Tikal remained downstairs. I was going downstairs to see why they hadn't come up, and I stopped when I heard them talking about you."

She continued to listen intently and look at him.

"They were talking about secret meetings between them, and making sure that you didn't know anything about them. Tikal was telling Knuckles to tell you that if you ever found him leaving, he would just tell you that he was patrolling the island. I don't know what all this is about, but I've got a bad feeling about it."

Rouge continued to sit there. Her mind was trying to process the whole thing. Finally she spoke. "Can you please leave?"

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"I need to be alone is all," she replied.

"Rouge, maybe we're jumping to conclusions. Maybe—"

"Maybe _we're_ jumping to conclusions? I never agreed with what you thought of the whole story. I trust Knuckles. He wouldn't lie to me!"

Shadow sighed as he got up and walked to the door. "I don't want you thinking the wrong idea. I'm just telling you what I heard. And I'm also warning you."

"Of what?"

"That love has consequences."

"And you would know?"

He was already gone.

Rouge heard laughing. "Well, well, well. It seems that your folly will most likely hurt you in more ways than I could have done."

When Rouge did not respond, the voice continued. "Maybe you need to get out there and do what I commanded you to do before I send a warning message to you. A little death is enough persuasion to—"

"You know, I'm really not even paying attention to you. I'm too caught up in my emotions right now. Why don't you come back in about fifty years, when I'll have no emotions left?"

"Have it your way," said the voice. "But you should mind your friend's advice—love has its consequences."

"Everything has consequences. Who's to say you won't kill him just to make me miserable, even after I do what you want?"

The voice laughed. "You know, you're right. I may just do that, since you're being such a brat right now. Get me what I want today, or he dies tomorrow. Got it?"

"What if I ignore you?" asked Rouge.

"Then I assure you, he will be dead by tomorrow morning. Now if you'd like to let him live through the night, you'll stop stalling me with stupid questions and continue your mission."

Rouge got up off the bed, walked to the door, and flew into the sky, crying the whole way.

"What'd I tell you?" said Knuckles. "The Master Emerald's still here."

"What does that prove?" asked Tikal.

"That Rouge isn't the thief!"

"Or that she still hasn't managed to grab it from under your nose yet."

Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"So, has she discovered that you've been leaving at night yet?" she asked him.

"Not as far as I know," he said. "I've been meaning to tell her about it, though."

"You know you can't."

"I know, but I feel like I'm betraying her. We shouldn't be keeping anything from each other."

"Why does she need to know about it?" asked Tikal. "It doesn't concern her."

"But what if she sees me sneaking over to your house one night and gets the wrong idea?"

"Tell her that you're patrolling the island. Didn't we already go over this?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Are you doubting your trust in her?"

"No. Why would you say that?"

"You keep bringing up 'what if she finds out.' Stop worrying! If she finds out, so what? We're not doing anything we shouldn't be doing."

Knuckles sighed. "I guess I just haven't been getting much sleep lately." He paused. "But Rouge has been acting differently lately."

"What do you mean?" asked Tikal.

"I don't know how to explain it," he began. "She seems so quiet and reserved all of a sudden, and it looks like it's getting a little worse each day. I don't know."

"Try to get her to talk about it," Tikal advised him. "Tell her that you can talk about anything with her."

Knuckles looked at her. "Anything, huh?"

"You know what I mean!"

"I don't like being dishonest around her."

"You don't really have a choice."

He sighed. "It's easy for you, though, isn't it?"

"I don't like doing this to you, you know," she said.

They both sat there for a while, neither one speaking. Finally, Knuckles got up. "I have to go. Rouge is probably wondering where I am. I'll see you tonight."

"I'll be waiting."

"Rouge?" Knuckles said when he opened the door to his house. "Are you home?"

No one answered.

He was just about to go outside when the door opened behind him and Rouge came in.

"Where were you?" Knuckles asked when he got in the door.

"Oh, just taking a fly around the island," she said casually. "I really want to go on that vacation," she reminded him.

"I know, so do I," he said. "But I've got to stay here for now. I promise we'll go on that vacation soon."

"Why did you say you had to stay here again?"

Knuckles seemed a little startled by the question, but he responded levelly, "To protect the Master Emerald. Haven't I told you this?"

"Can't Tikal handle it?" she pressed.

"Rouge, it's my responsibility."

"What else does she have to do around here other than—" She stopped.

"Other than what?" he asked.

"Never mind," she said hastily. "So is this where you've been going all day?"

"Well," he hesitated. "Sometimes I just go for walks, sometimes I go over to Tikal's house and we talk…"

"About what?" said Rouge before she even thought about it.

"Oh…you know," Knuckles said slowly. "Master Emerald stuff, what's been going on lately, stuff like that? Why?"

"Just wondering," she said. "Listen, do you think you could leave Angel Island for one night and come with me to dinner? I think we need to spend some time away from here by ourselves. What do you say?"

Knuckles sighed. "I don't think I can," he said slowly.

"Well you're not doing anything at night, are you?" she asked in a sarcastic-sounding tone. But it almost sounded like she was really asking him.

"No, of course not," he said. "But what's wrong with Angel Island?"

"Nothing, it's just I think we've seen it a lot lately, and I think we could both use a break. But I mean if you're asleep at night here, how's it any different than being away from the island?"

"I don't know," he said hesitantly. "It's just…"

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You sound like you're on edge about something."

"I think I'm just tense because of the jewel thief," he said, sounding relieved. "I feel like he or she could strike here at any time and I'll be powerless to stop them."

"Oh, I don't think they'll be stopping here," she said optimistically. "If they know you, they wouldn't waste their time."

"Thanks," he said, and he kissed her. "You always make me feel better."

She smiled. "Like no one else?"

"Absolutely," he said. "Like no one else."

"It's only because I love you," she said, sounding relieved like he had.

She rolled over. "Well, I guess that was better than dinner."

"And you wanted to go out," he laughed.

"I wanted to spend the night at a hotel or something," she said. "I just want to be with you."

"Well that works," he said. "Because I feel the same way."

"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked him.

He smiled, looking up at the roof. "Yeah."

"We were both so pathetic!" she laughed. "We wouldn't let each other know how we really felt."

"How do you know I fell in love with you at first sight?"

She sat up and looked at him, her mouth open wide. He just smiled.

"You big…" she started to say, feigning anger.

"Jerk?" he finished.

"Yes!"

"Well, you're…you're mean!" he yelled, pretending to sound offended.

She was laughing. Then she rolled over next to him. "I'm mean?"

"You won't let me pursue the other loves of my life," he laughed.

"And who are you talking about?" she asked seriously.

"Food, fighting, and food," he said.

"Okay, can we be serious now?"

"Why?"

She didn't respond.

"Rouge, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Good night."

"Good night," he repeated to her.

He waited for about an hour, just sitting in his bed with his eyes closed, resisting any pressure to fall asleep. Finally, when he could hear Rouge snoring quietly, he gently pulled the sheets off of himself and sat up quietly. He got out of the bed, but froze when Rouge appeared to stir, but she only turned her head to face him. She was still sleeping, so he continued to tiptoe to the door. He opened it slowly, then stepped outside and closed the door. Then he ran quickly and quietly to Tikal's house, always being wary of someone watching him.

He got to her house and knocked on the door. She let him in and they both sat down on the floor around the book. Knuckles noticed that Tikal had had out her meditating candles and books.

"What were you doing?" he asked her.

"I've been getting bad vibes lately," she told him. "It feels like something's going to happen very soon, and it's not going to be good."

"It's probably the jewel thief," said Knuckles. "They're probably going to be attacking here soon."

"I don't know…" she said, and seemed lost in thought for about a minute. Finally, she broke out of it and asked Knuckles if he was ready. He said he was, and she began to tell him about the final chapter in the loss of their ancient tribe. Knuckles listened for almost an hour straight while Tikal told him everything. Finally, when she stopped, and she was crying hard, Knuckles asked her what he had been wanting to ask her ever since the meetings started.

"Tikal, why are we the only two left?"

She stopped and looked up at him. He almost couldn't look back at her; he felt like he was causing her to go through so much pain. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Don't worry about it. I don't want to make you more upset."

"No!" she said. "You have to know. It's part of your history."

She began the story where she left off from her last one. The entire tribe was engaged in civil war. Families were torn apart, and parents often ended up killing their children and vice versa. Because their tribe had always been aggressive and violent amongst themselves, it was hard for Tikal's father to maintain control. The civil war had broken out when two opposing groups formed—the Jairi and the Rhutok. Most of the beliefs of the groups were based on histories of certain echidnas, but the beliefs of one group may have attracted some from families who had descended from the other.

Eventually, the groups got so violent that they overthrew the Royal Family, and the victorious group, the Jairi, established a new government, one that included the destruction of all Rhutoks. Tikal's mother had managed to get Tikal to safety before the entire Royal Family was executed. Although she was only about a year old when this all happened, she had royal blood in her, and she would learn how to remember this tragic event in her life. Tikal, abandoned to the wilderness at the age of one, learned everything she knew not only from her ancestry but also from nature.

Meanwhile, back in the new Jairi kingdom, the war was still raging. The Jairi, although they became powerful, could not fully put down the Rhutok insurgence. Violence from both sides continued for months. Eventually, however, it appeared that the ruling Jairi would win the battle. When this happened, many Rhutoks tried to flee, but only one managed to escape. In a desperate attempt to get their only son out of the Jairi empire, a Rhutok and his wife threw their one-year-old son into a river, where he was presumed drowned and dead. However, his body slowly floated to the top of the water, and the river carried him far away. Eventually, he floated to Angel Island, where the former princess Tikal found him. She took him out of the water, and they lived together on Angel Island ever since.

"So, the rest of the tribe just…" Knuckles started to say with tears in his eyes.

"Killed themselves off," Tikal finished between sobs. "The civil war continued for years, until there were none left."

For a few minutes, the only two echidnas left from the tribe sat in sad silence. Then, they both stood up and hugged each other as if they were never going to let go. They touched their faces together, both knowing that they were the only survivors, but they weren't supposed to survive, and they did, and they felt like it was just the two of them in the world right there, that they were all alone.

But they weren't.

They heard the door open behind them, and then a loud gasp. Knuckles, who saw in Tikal's eyes a look of horror, turned around to see Rouge standing in the doorway, a look of misunderstanding, anger, and inexplicable pain etched all over her face.

A/N: This little past I've constructed to explain the disappearance of the echidna tribe was completely made up by myself because I had not played Sonic Adventure or heard about the story. I know now that it was Chaos that destroyed the civilization, not civil war between two made-up tribes. Just writing this down so no one flames me because I didn't stick true to the games.


	10. Fate

Chapter 10: Fate 

None of them had noticed that it was starting to rain outside. Thunder boomed all around them and the lightning lit up the darkness of the night. Everything got colder with the pounding drops of water and the powerful wind. They could almost feel the house start to move and squeak around them. Water even started leaking into the house, but they paid no attention. They couldn't.

The lightning lit up Rouge's face so that Knuckles and Tikal could see just how shocked and pained she was. The rain dampened her head and created somewhat of an aura of reflected water drops surrounding her. The water ran down her face and brought the make-up with it, making her face look quite ugly. The water sliding down her face disguised her tears. And the wind, which could have easily blown her over, did not even sway her. She stood firmly in the doorway, her face now becoming blank of any expression. She was almost like a zombie, staring at the two echidnas with an emotionless look.

Tikal and Knuckles stood there. They had released each other and had turned to face Rouge. They knew they hadn't done anything wrong. But they couldn't find the words to say to Rouge. Everything just looked so convincing that it would be that much harder to convince her what really happened. Everything from the story was forgotten by both echidnas. Knuckles forgot why he had even hugged Tikal. Tikal forgot why she was crying. All Knuckles could think about was how sorry he was for never telling Rouge the truth, and how he just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He wanted to look into her eyes and tell everything was all right, and that they could go home again and continue to live their lives like they had for the past few months. But he couldn't. It wouldn't be that easy. He knew what was coming, and tried to brace himself.

"No," Rouge said suddenly to no one in an eerily calm voice. "No."

Knuckles opened his mouth, but he still couldn't begin to explain what had happened. Tikal was speechless as well.

Knuckles cleared his throat. "Rouge?"

"Don't speak!" she hissed. "You've sullied your tongue too much tonight."

"Rouge, before you say what you think you saw, let me—"

"What I think I saw!" she cried. "I know what I saw! I saw my life go up in flames right in front of me! Everything! My dreams just died right in front of my eyes! The love of my life making love to another woman!"

"Rouge," began Tikal. "You don't understand. We—"

"Shut up!" Rouge yelled.

"We weren't making love!" Knuckles protested, still upset from the story.

"You know what hurts me more than anything?" she asked. "It's not the fact that you've been having an affair behind my back for I don't even know how long, but that you blatantly lied about it! You always said that you loved me and that I was your only love…"

"You are," he tried to say to her.

"Or was I just imagining that, hmm? Like I'm imagining this right here? Is that it?"

"Rouge, please, you have to listen to me…"

"I don't have to do anything for you anymore!" she shouted. "All this time, you've been sleeping with me, and then when you think I'm sound asleep, you tiptoe down here and make love to her! How long has she known about this?"

"Rouge, he wasn't—"

"You!" Rouge seethed. "You have lost all right to be near me at all! Both of you!"

"Rouge, you need to calm down. Let me explain everything."

"What is there to explain?" she yelled with tears in her eyes. "You were my everything! I loved you, and I thought you loved me. We were so happy…."

"We can still be happy," Knuckles tried to say. "We can still have all of that. I still want it."

Then Rouge started laughing. It was frightening to watch her. "You think you can just betray me like this," she said, her voice now turning angry again. "And expect me to forgive you!"

Knuckles was about to speak again, but then Rouge cut him off. "I should have known."

"What are you talking about?" asked Tikal.

"Oh, just the way you two acted towards each other, how I learned that Knuckles had been sneaking off in the middle of the night, how he had cancelled our vacation plans just so he could spend time with his two whores at the same time, how he claimed that he needed to protect the Master Emerald, how you two had met secretly at Tails' house, talking about making sure I didn't find out…"

"Rouge, that was for—"

"I didn't want to believe it," she said, her voice fading out. "The evidence was staring me right in the face, but I looked away. I just kept pushing it out of my face. I clung to you, Knuckles, because I was afraid my instincts were right. I hoped that you could prove me wrong, so I came out here, shortly after I saw you leave the house, just to show myself that I was being neurotic. But I guess it's good that I came out here, huh?"

"Will you please listen to him?" begged Tikal.

"Why? So I can break my heart all over again? What is he going to tell me? That it's not what I think it is?"

"It's not," he said.

"We're through," she said flatly.

"Please—"

"We're through," she repeated, and she walked out the door, closing it softly on her way out.

* * *

She didn't care that it was pouring outside. She wasn't daunted by the wind. She didn't mind the thunder and lightning. She just wanted to go home. 

"Would you like for me to kill him now?" the voice asked her.

"No," she said. "I'm leaving here."

"And coming to me?" the voice said delightedly. "Bring your things with you," she reminded her.

"I have nothing here anymore," Rouge said more to herself. "It's time I left." She took one last look at the house to see if he had left, but when he hadn't, she turned around and ran, never looking back.

* * *

"Go after her!" Tikal commanded him. 

"And do what?" he asked in a broken voice. "She won't hear anything I have to say!"

"You're giving up on her!"

"Maybe it's best for all of us."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm not giving up on her!" he shouted. "But loving her more than anything isn't good enough for her. She's done with me, and I can't be a desperate, lovesick rat like that. I have to move on."

"To where?" she asked. "Where are you going to go? Rouge was…is your life!"

"I have the Master Emerald to look after, my friends, you…"

"Those don't mean anything next to her!" she protested. "You know it!"

"Don't say that," he said. "I had a life that I loved before she came into it."

"And she's not out of it yet," she reminded him. "You won't let her go. You can't."

"Watch me."

"This was how you used to be! This is how you were before Rouge. You were colder and kept to yourself. You would shut yourself up here on the island, away from your friends. You didn't love your life."

"I can't go back to her now," he said. "She doesn't want me anymore."

"For all the wrong reasons!" said Tikal. "She doesn't know what happened here!"

"But she does know one truth: I did lie to her. I kept these meeting secret from her."

"You had no choice! You know, you almost sound like you've been waiting for something like this to happen so you can just totally trash your relationship. What was going on behind the curtain?"

Knuckles hesitated. "I just can't bring myself to go back to her now. I don't know why. I think we just need time to sort all this out."

"You don't have time!" she said. "You have to go find her and explain everything now! Don't let your relationship just slip away like that."

Knuckles moved to sit on the bed. "I should have told her."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, for God's sake! I told you not to tell her. If you're going to blame someone, blame me!"

"But I could have and should have easily disobeyed you."

"Well, you can't do anything about the past now. Go to her. If not for you or her, do it for me. I hate seeing you like this."

"She won't even listen to me."

"I think she's had enough time to recollect herself. Go to her."

Knuckles got off the bed and walked to the door. "This was fate's decision," he said as he closed the door.

Everything suddenly became quiet. The storm outside had passed. The rain stopped pounding on the house's roof, and the thunder and lightning let up. The wind also became quiet. But the storm inside was still brewing.

Nothing but the events that occurred on this fateful night ran through Tikal's mind: the terrible tragedy of the story, Rouge's sudden arrival at the house, and the destruction of a relationship that was still too young to die. But the most saddening part of it was that neither one wanted to break up, but now they felt they had to. They both still loved each other, that much was clear. But they felt like they had to end everything now, and for no reason. Rouge seemed a little quick to end the relationship; she didn't even give Knuckles a chance. She almost seemed like she wanted to let go of him. And Knuckles seemed so depressed now that he didn't even care.

Tikal felt somewhat responsible, for she had told Knuckles that he was not to tell Rouge about their meetings. So now she felt responsible for helping them to make up and make them see that they love each other. They just had to see it.

"Then defy fate," Tikal said to the door.

* * *

She had just finished packing everything when she heard someone walk in. "Where are you going?" asked Shadow. 

When Rouge didn't answer, Shadow realized something was wrong. "What happened?"

"Just a little revelation," she said in a tone that had no feeling in it. "I have to leave."

"Are you running away?" he asked.

"I can't stay here," she said.

"What happened?" he repeated.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, and he figured it out. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Me too," she said in her monotonous tone.

"You can't run away from this."

"Thank you for letting me know sooner," she said to him.

"I had no idea that they would—"

"I guess you were wrong."

"Where are you going?" he asked again.

"Come with me."

"What?"

"I can't go alone," she said.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's not my place. You need to make up with Knuckles. Don't leave."

"It's too late for that now. He still has the nerve to stay at Tikal's house. He obviously has no hope of reuniting, so why should I?"

"Don't you think you should give this more time?"

"I have to leave. Now."

"Wherever you're going, you won't find peace there. You need to make amends here."

"I have nothing left here. Come with me."

"No."

"Please, Shadow. You're my best friend, my only friend now. I need you."

"Where are you going?" he asked a third time.

"Malterr."

"Can't say I've heard of it."

"It's another planet."

"Why are you going there?" he asked.

"Earth has too many bad memories, and I have to take care of something on Malterr. I need you to come with me."

Shadow could see that she was begging now. He couldn't say no to her. "When are you leaving?"

"Now."

"Does anyone know about this?"

"No one."

Shadow sighed. "I guess I have no choice."

Rouge smiled and returned to packing her bags. Shadow had one more question. "Is this going to be an overnight flight?"

"Yes," said Rouge, who was still smiling.

* * *

They both walked through the forest and came across a large ship in the middle of a clearing. Shadow assumed Rouge had planned this a while ago, as it would be more than just a coincidence if the ship just happened to be here. Rouge opened the ramp and they walked up and into the ship. They walked through some corridors and made it to the cockpit, where Rouge engaged the launch sequence. All the while, Knuckles sat in one of the closets in the extra bedrooms, waiting to see what was going to happen next. 


	11. The International Jewel Thief

Chapter 11: The International Jewel Thief 

It didn't take long for the ship to leave the Earth's orbit, and it was also a pretty smooth ride. Sometimes ships might start vibrating violently and things could catch fire, but it was a smooth departure. Nothing held it back; it just went.

It was quiet up in space. Nothing but stars and a black void surrounded you. There were no distractions. There were no living beings. There was nothing there, just an endless black. You could only hear yourself breathing. You could only hear your own heartbeat. You could only hear your own thoughts. Outer space proved to be the ultimate solitude.

It was also cold and miserable in space.

Once they were safely out of Earth's gravitational pull, Rouge activated the light speed navigator, and they set their course for Malterr, which was several galaxies away. Light speed could get them there in about 30 hours. That left a lot of time with nothing to do.

Rouge sat in one of the bedrooms and immersed herself in thought. So much had happened in the last few hours that she hadn't really stopped and processed everything. Her life had changed so quickly that she didn't even realize it. She couldn't go back to Earth anymore—too much had happened there. Maybe she could start a new life on Malterr, where she wouldn't have to worry about anything. She could live without regret there.

And yet, she couldn't make herself stay away from Earth forever. So much had certainly happened there—most of her life, in fact. She had a job, she had recently made some friends, and even got involved in a relationship. She couldn't just forget everything. Even Malterr couldn't do that for her. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Knuckles. She couldn't help from feeling guilty either. She had left Knuckles because he kept something from her when she had her own secrets.

And a part of her never wanted to let go. That part of her was yelling so loud that if Shadow walked in the room he probably would have actually heard it. That part of her kept asking her what she was doing. It said that she was throwing away everything for nothing. She had made two big mistakes—leaving Knuckles and leaving Earth, and she would regret both. She didn't want to leave, so why should she?

Because she had to, the other part of her said. She had no choice. If she stayed, she would have endured more pain than was necessary, and she had a duty to go to Malterr anyway. Knuckles had betrayed her, so why shouldn't she leave him forever?

It was then that she heard a real voice. "Because you still love him."

She jumped at the sound of Shadow's voice. "I could hear you talking to yourself from the other room," he explained. "You still don't know, do you?"

"I just need some time to think," she replied. "I need time to adjust to Knuckles not being with me, because that's how it's going to be from now on."

"Are you sure about that?" he questioned her.

"He's out of my life!" she shouted. "I don't love him anymore."

"Who are you trying to convince here? Me or you?"

"He betrayed me!"

"How do you know?"

"I saw him with Tikal!"

"Why did you really leave him?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You say you saw Knuckles at Tikal's house, and he was hugging her. You walked in and assumed they were making love—"

"Believe me, Shadow, I know what love looks like. Don't tell me what I did or didn't see."

"You jumped to conclusions too quickly. Any normal lover would need more proof than that."

"More proof! You told me all about their secret meetings! And now you're taking back what you said!"

"Don't turn the spotlight off of you just yet," he said. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Yes, I have!" she exclaimed. "He still betrayed my trust, even if he wasn't cheating on me."

"That's no reason to leave him. Why did you?"

"Because I'm the international jewel thief, that's why!" she cried, and she went running into another room.

Several hours later, Shadow knocked on her door. "Can I come in?" he asked.

She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him.

"You should really eat something," he said. "It's been hours since we left."

"Are you happy?"

"What?"

"You have the truth now, so don't try to pretend like everything's all right now."

"You left Earth because you were fleeing the authorities?"

"No," she said. "I left Earth because I need to get the jewels to Malterr."

"Are you being paid for this?"

"I have to do this," she said.

"Will we ever be going back to Earth?"

"If you want to, you can take the ship back there once we land."

"Not without you."

She suddenly stood up and kissed him. He broke away instantly.

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"Please," she was begging now. "Please, for me."

"You don't love me and I don't love you. You love Knuckles and I—"

"I don't love him anymore!"

"Rouge, I care about you, but I won't do this. Neither of us wants to."

"Please!"

Shadow turned his head away.

"No. I'm going back to the cockpit and turning this ship around. You—"

"No!" she screamed. "You can't!"

"You can't run from this," he said. "We're going home."

"Please!" She was crying now. "Shadow, remember all the things I did for you? Now you can do something for me."

"Not like this."

He turned around and walked to the door. He opened it and said, "We're going home."

Rouge sat there in the room, crying. She needed Shadow to do this for her, but he wouldn't. She had no choice.

The bed didn't seem so big that night. Rouge lay there, looking up at the ceiling. Then she turned over. "What are you thinking about?"

"How much I love you," said Knuckles, but he was speaking in Shadow's voice.

She smiled. "I thought so," she replied.

She rolled over and started kissing him. "I love you Knuckles."

"What?" he said suddenly.

"I said I love you Knuckles."

"You love Knuckles?" he stammered.

Rouge then suddenly realized what she said. She opened her eyes and saw Shadow's face looking at her from the other side of the bed.

"I didn't mean—"

"Oh, I know what you mean," he said. "I know exactly what's going on here."

Rouge was panicking. "Uh…here, have another drink. It'll calm you down."

Shadow took a sip of the alcohol, and then he drained the whole glass in a few seconds. "Cheers!" he said drunkenly. "To us."

Rouge crept out of the bed when she woke up. She figured Shadow would be sober by now, and he would definitely have a headache. She went and got him some aspirin and made him swallow it in his sleep. She didn't think he should know about what happened last night, at least not yet.

She went to the cockpit and learned that they were only an hour away from Malterr. She would wake Shadow up when they got out of light speed. Meanwhile, she prepared herself for arrival. She didn't quite know what to expect, so she gathered the jewels and her bags and went into the other room. She messed up the bed a little to make it look like she had slept there, then sat on it and thought about how much she had betrayed everyone. She was the international jewel thief that had forced Sonic to join the CIA, the thief that forced Knuckles to cancel his vacation plans with she herself, the thief that almost killed Sonic and his CIA partner in the Rockies, the thief that sent Sonic and his friends to old Hernandez to try to lead them off her trail, the thief that sent the message to Brasilia in order to get Sonic and his friends out of the way while she went to other countries and robbed them, and the thief that destroyed her own relationship with Knuckles. She lied to all of them, and she almost killed them. And it was all for Knuckles. She had done it all for his life. It was either she collect all of Earth's most valuable jewels and bring them to Malterr, or Knuckles' life would be taken. And now, she would never see him again. And after looking at the monitor, she realized she was about to meet the twisted person who orchestrated it all.

She pulled out of light speed and saw before her a giant ball of brown. It was barren looking, with small cities showing themselves in scattered locations. She noticed Malterr's biggest city, Desordia, which she could spot easily from a far distance. As the ship approached the planet, Rouge could see the tall metal buildings, pointing upward into the black sky like needles. If there were a light to shine on this planet, the buildings would have gleamed magnificently.

She heard the cockpit doors open, and Shadow entered, looking drowsy. "Have we arrived yet?" he asked, rubbing his eyes in an effort to wake himself up.

"We'll be landing soon," she told him. "Be prepared for anything."

"By the way, I know what you did last night."

Rouge gulped. "Look, I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize to me," he said sternly. "Apologize to Knuckles when you see him again."

She turned away from him and looked out the glass window to see the landing platform before her. They would be getting out soon.

"Open the ramp," she said. "Please."

They walked to the entrance corridor and slowly descended the ramp. They stepped on the metal walkway and made their way to the door ahead, where they could enter to see the ruler of the planet. Rouge made sure she forgot to bring the jewels with her.

They approached the door slowly. But they could not enter without the code. For some reason unbeknownst to her, Rouge knew the code and punched it into the security pad. The door made a low noise before starting to open. Suddenly, an arrow shot through the small crack already opened, and it pierced Shadow in the chest. He hadn't even seen it coming and his wide-eyed face of shock quickly melted away as he dropped to the metal floor.

"No!" shouted Rouge. The doors had fully opened by this point, and three massive guards stood in the doorway, each holding large axes and carrying on their backs a blaster rifle and a quiver of arrows with a bow. They glared menacingly at Rouge.

Then, Rouge heard a loud yell behind her. She couldn't believe her ears or eyes as she turned around to see Knuckles, in the flesh, leaping into the air at her. "Rouge!" he shouted. He was going to save her, and he would have landed in front of her had he not been brought down by another arrow. He, too, hit the ground hard.

"Noooooo!" Rouge shouted as he fell. "You bastards!" she turned around to face the guards. "You will pay for this!"

She leapt into the air and managed to get one of the guards in the face with a powerful kick. It sent even his massive body flying into the wall behind him.

She prepared to get another one of them, but before she could, she felt something large and heavy hit the back of her head, and she was out cold.

"Excellent," said a menacing voice from a communicator. "Now make sure you search the ship for more of those creatures and find those jewels. Then bring the two trespassers to the dungeons and bring her to me."


	12. The Deal

Chapter 12: The Deal 

When Rouge awoke, she wasn't immediately aware of where she was. Everything was incredibly dark and there didn't seem to be anyone in the room. Her immediate thought of was where Knuckles and Shadow might be, and if they were even still alive. She had brought both of them into this, and if they never returned to Earth, she didn't think she could live with herself.

It took her about a minute to even realize that she was strapped to something cold and metallic. She then figured out that whatever she was tied to, it was positioned so that she was looking straight ahead; she was not lying on anything. Rouge thought she saw a door with a small glass window in front of her to the left, but she was still recovering from the blow and her vision was a little blurry. But her hearing was not impaired, and she did suddenly hear someone moving around in the dark in front of her. Then, all of a sudden, the lights came on, and she saw everything.

In front of her stood a fairly beautiful creature, wearing much of the same attire as Rouge, make-up included. She did look a lot like Rouge, but anyone could tell that they were different just by looking at their faces. This "counterpart" had a truly evil grin on her face, and had the aura of someone that was in charge and in control, and she was. She was a white bat, like Rouge, but very different in so many ways.

"So, you've finally come to?" she asked Rouge in a voice that made Rouge cringe. It was the same voice Rouge had heard too many times on Earth.

"Where are they?" Rouge demanded.

"Why do you care?" she asked. "After all, you don't love either one of them, at least that's what you said."

"You don't know me well enough to know who I truly love."

"I can't believe you're still this naïve. It's quite pathetic."

"What do you want from me?" Rouge seethed at her.

"You know what I want," she said in a voice that had lost patience. "You're missing a jewel."

"Go and get it yourself," Rouge told her. "I'm not your slave anymore."

"You forget that I'm holding things over your head that you would not dare lose," she reminded her. "I suggest you comply with my demands."

"Leave me alone!" Rouge shouted. "You haven't left me alone all my life. Let me live my life!"

"Foolish little girl," she said. "Don't you remember? You exist to serve me."

"I didn't sign anything to be born."

"You didn't have that choice, my dear. I made that decision for you."

"Like all the other decisions in my life that you made for me? Of course, you never would let me live the life I wanted. Ever since I was born."

"Enough of this useless conversation. Where is the Amashi jewel?"

"On Earth."

"Don't play this game; it won't help you. In fact, it'll just kill you."

"I can't believe I'm strapped to a table and being threatened and interrogated by my own mother."

She laughed. "So, you finally accepted the truth?"

"You're a mother only in name, Ladronella," Rouge said to her mother. "You conceived me only to use me for your own twisted schemes."

"And you seem to have inherited some of that ruthlessness yourself," Ladronella noted. "Just look at the way you used Knuckles to get to the Mas—"

"I am nothing like you!" Rouge shouted as loud as she could.

"Dear child," Ladronella said in a feigned soft voice. "You are exactly like me, at least that's how you were born. I made sure of that. The only reason you aren't quite like me anymore is because of Earth. Your extended stay there has separated you from me for too long."

"While we're on the subject of my past," said Rouge. "Tell me about my father. Was he your perfect match?"

"He's not even alive anymore," Ladronella said evilly. "I saw to that, too."

"You killed your own husband? Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised…"

"He was never my husband. As a matter of fact, I never even knew who he was." She laughed. "That's something else you and I have in common."

"What happened?" Rouge asked in a serious voice.

"I doubt you will have ever wanted to hear this after you do, so I'm going to tell you." She grinned. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful bat named Ladronella. She never knew of her origins, for her earliest memory was living in a cold, dark cave on an asteroid. She had to live on her own for years, always having to feed herself on small creatures in the ground. One day, however, she found a gorgeous gem embedded in the ground. She picked it up and examined it, and it quickly became the love of her life. In fact, she still has this jewel with her, to remind her of her life's goal: to collect every jewel in the universe, no matter the price or penalty. This led her down a path of evil and thievery. But you're probably wondering how she got off that filthy rock. Let me tell you.

"One day, a space cruiser had malfunctioned and had landed on the asteroid. The crew tried to contact their planet, but to no avail. Ladronella, who saw the ship crash, crept over to the landed ship and overheard the crew saying that they needed power for their ship somehow. Ladronella got an idea: maybe her jewel could boost the engines. But she had no intent of telling the crew of her plan, for she wanted to get off the asteroid and see the galaxy, particularly to see if it had anymore jewels anywhere. She tiptoed over to the ship, crawled behind some rocks, and quickly jumped out, opened the engine hood, installed the jewel in its place, and got onboard. And because she was so dreadfully evil, she looked out the window at the scrambling crew as the ship lifted off the asteroid, and she waved to them, knowing they would not ever make it off that rock.

"Time passed. As the years went by, Ladronella grew into a young woman, but ever since she left the asteroid, she had not changed much as far as her actions. She flew from planet to planet, secretly making off with its jewels before anyone knew anything about it. As she traveled the universe, she began to learn about the actual value of her jewels, for she encountered other smugglers and crooks, and even befriended a few. But she never trusted them completely. Eventually, she disconnected herself from all other beings, knowing that she only loved jewels. It is for that reason that even today, Ladronella refuses to love anyone or show any emotion. Her life is for jewels, nothing else.

"One day she learned that the asteroid from which she originated had collided with several others and formed a planet-sized rock. She also learned that other beings were beginning to settle the planet and establish a democratic government, for the residents of this new planet were a bunch of unwanted refugees who had been oppressed every else they went. Suddenly, Ladronella, who by this point was already a grown woman in her late twenties, realized that there could be more gems on the former asteroid now that it had combined with other asteroids. She flew to the new planet and quickly and ruthlessly gained control of the young, weak government. She established her own dictatorship of the planet, and called it Malterr.

"She was later able to raise an army and develop the planet's technology and economy. She soon had complete control of the pathetic beings that had fled other planets to come here. How ironic. Anyway, her mines turned up next to nothing, so she began to search abroad for more sources of jewels. Eventually, she heard of the planet Earth and how it was rich with emeralds and rubies and sapphires and all kinds of glorious gems. The only problem was that when she got close enough to the Earth's gravitational field, her body started to seethe in pain and she found herself shaking violently. They left immediately, and her captain told her it must have been something in the Earth's chemical composition, and she was having a reaction to it. Neither she nor anyone else had ever heard of such a reaction, and when she got back to Malterr, she began to think of how she could get to Earth without dying in pain. Suddenly, an idea struck her."

Ladronella stopped for a second and looked at Rouge with that evil grin. Rouge knew what was coming next in the story, but she allowed her mother to continue nonetheless. "She decided that she would need someone with all of her thieving prowess and without this odd reaction to Earth's atmosphere. She would need to conceive a child. But she knew she would never want to settle down with any man or child, so she would need to make this quick. She started traveling to other planets and parading her flawless body in the streets. She was able to attract several mates who looked promising. But after she went through the painful process of sleeping with them, she would kill them in their sleep that morning, careful to not leave any evidence that could convict her. She did this frequently during a period of two months until finally, she learned she was pregnant."

Rouge shuddered as Ladronella continued. "Ladronella was one of the most clever criminals in the universe, for she has never been caught, even to this day. The intergalactic police have been stumped for years as to who it was that killed this man or stole that jewel. No one knew she was pregnant besides her own doctor, and after nine months of humiliation and patient waiting, the baby finally came. Ladronella, who could have cared less for her new child's sake, ran out of the hospital as soon as she could, carrying her infant. Not even bothering to stop for anything, including naming the wretched thing or even looking to see if it was a male or female, she flew to Earth, but far enough away where she could be safe. She placed the infant in the capsule, and before sending it down to Earth, inserted a small chip into its head. Its purpose was to keep the child in touch with its mother constantly, always reminding it of what its reason for living was."

Before Ladronella had finished, Rouge was feeling all over her head for the chip. "You'll never find it," Ladronella said to her. "I will always be in your head."

"You bitch," Rouge said through clenched teeth. "You're telling me that I'm the result of some random, heartless night in bed with a man that you never even knew. You didn't even know his name!"

"Does that make you feel bad?" Ladronella mocked her.

"And you killed him," Rouge said flatly. "You killed my father. And you should have killed me!"

"Oh no, I couldn't have done that," said Ladronella. "Not to you, Rouge. You are the source of my happiness."

"Not anymore."

"You think you are in a position to argue with me right now?" Ladronella spoke in the most serious of a voice that Rouge had ever heard her. "I've had enough of your delaying and your games. You will be a good little daughter and get me the Amashi jewel!"

"Over my dead body," Rouge replied unflinchingly.

Suddenly, Rouge felt electricity running all through her body. It was so painful that she nearly lost consciousness. She couldn't even hear her mother's voice.

"I don't think you want me to do that again," Ladronella said. "Now you will go and get me the jewel!"

"You think killing me will do anything?" Rouge said in a weak voice. The electricity had taken its toll on her. "I will die before I serve you any longer."

"I was hoping that I would have to resort to this," said Ladronella. "It just makes things much more interesting."

All of a sudden, a hole opened in the floor, and Rouge and the table fell downward into darkness. She could hear Ladronella jump down after her, and within several seconds, they landed. The new room was pitch black, but Rouge did feel herself being released from the table. She now stood there, waiting for something to happen.

The lights were turned on, and Rouge gasped. She was in the dungeon, and she could tell by the fact that both Knuckles and Shadow were attached to the wall by chains. They hung there unconscious, with bruises and cuts and looked like they had just been hit by a car. They moaned almost silently, the only clue as to how much pain that they had actually suffered.

Rouge also noticed the same three large guards standing beside their prisoners. They were very muscular in build, and they were at least twice Rouge's size. They were gray creatures, and Rouge had a feeling that they were Malterrians, only they had been injected with some kind of steroid to make them that much stronger. They had ammunition belts over their bare chests and held large axes against their bodies. They were horned creatures, and their helmets added to the dangerous-looking effect of their heads. They looked down their pig-like snouts at Rouge, and they glared at her with a look of hatred in their eyes.

"What have you done to them?" Rouge demanded, but knowing that they probably couldn't understand her. Either way, they did not respond.

"Everything I told them to do," said Ladronella. "Which is what you should do unless you want me to kill them."

Rouge wasted no time in acting. She flew forward as before and managed to hit one guard in the mouth with a powerful kick, but another guard came behind her and threw a huge fist into her stomach as soon as she turned around. She went flying back into the wall, but was not down yet. She lunged forward again, but this time did a fake move and appeared suddenly over one of the other guards' head. She got him with a drill drive, but the other two now circled her and grabbed her arms. They slammed in her into the wall and did not let go.

"I really don't want to restrain you," said Ladronella. "But I've wasted enough of my life playing games with you. Now you can play mine."

"I've been forced to do your dirty work on Earth for all my life," Rouge said, her voice growing louder. "Now you tell me that I am just now going to play your game?"

"I think it's time you let these two gentlemen know what you've done behind their backs."

By now, both Knuckles and Shadow and come to, and they had heard what Ladronella said. Shadow, who had already learned everything that Rouge had done, merely stared at Rouge, all the while trying to maintain an air of determination and dauntlessness just to spite his captors. Knuckles, on the other hand, had a puzzled look on his battered face. "What is she talking about Rouge?"

"Oh and before you go ahead and tell him your secrets, why don't you listen to the truth he has to tell you," Ladronella said before Rouge could even think of how to respond to Knuckles.

"Rouge," Knuckles began weakly. "I'm sorry for lying to you. But you need to know that I was not cheating on you with anyone. I was…comforting Tikal."

"Why?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles hesitated before speaking. "I'm done keeping secrets from you. I was meeting with Tikal because she was supposed to teach me more advanced methods of guarding the Master Emerald. But what ended up happening was Tikal telling me of how our tribe died out. That night, she was so overcome with sadness that I felt compelled to embrace her, not in a romantic way, but as a friend. And the reason we never told you about these meetings was because Tikal told me that I couldn't tell anyone, even you. But now I know that we can't keep things from each other like that—"

"Knuckles!" cried Rouge. She was indeed crying. "I'm sorry for everything I blamed you for! I'm sorry I left you! I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions! Please forgive me!"

"Why don't you tell us what exactly you want him to forgive you for?" Ladronella asked ruthlessly.

Rouge stopped. Suddenly, she came to a realization. "Yes, Knuckles, let me tell you everything. I kept a secret from you that I should never have concealed. I knew who the international jewel thief was, and I never told you. But now I will. It was my mother!"

"I don't think—"

"Excuse me, Ladronella, but I believe I was telling Knuckles a truth, one that you pushed me to reveal. Now let me continue. She has forced me to go around the earth and steal all of the world's most precious jewels. She wanted them for herself. But you're probably wondering why I did this for her. I stole those jewels because I knew that if I didn't, you would die."

"That's enough, Rouge—"

"She haunted me day and night, constantly reminding me of my mission that I had to do for her. She was relentless in her threats of killing you and destroying all the happiness in my life. I'm sorry that I never told you this."

"This is all very cute," said Ladronella. "But why don't you cut to what happened between you and Shadow on the way over here?"

Rouge gulped and turned back to Knuckles. There was no escaping the truth now. "Knuckles…I…slept with Shadow on the way over here," she said, with the most apologetic look that Knuckles had ever seen.

Knuckles sat there and stared at Rouge for a few minutes, apparently trying to take all of this in. Then he turned slowly to Ladronella. "Was this supposed to make me leave her forever?" he said with a chuckle.

Ladronella's jaw dropped. "Did you hear what she just said?" she asked in amazement. "She had sex with another man behind your back! And you're telling me that you aren't affected at all by this?"

Knuckles was able to form a smile on his bruised face. "Love is about forgiveness," he said. "I know what Rouge was thinking when she ran out on me. She thought I was cheating on her, so what would be the natural thing for her to do? Simple: find someone else, someone who could comfort her and make her feel better. Someone like Shadow."

Shadow shook his head. "I did not willingly make love to Rouge," he said. "She got me drunk enough to where I had no clue what was going on. The only way I knew what happened that night was when I woke up in the middle of the night with a painful headache, and I saw Rouge next to me in bed with no clothes on, and myself the same."

Ladronella smiled at this, apparently assuming that this would put Knuckles over the edge, but he shook his head at her again. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," he said simply. "Rouge was going through a rough time. She didn't know whom she loved. She saw Shadow and made herself believe she loved him. You see, I know Rouge loves me and always will. She would never truthfully love someone at the same time as me. So your pathetic plan to make your daughter's life more miserable has failed, Ladronella."

But Ladronella smiled. "Oh I'm not done yet," she said. She turned back to Rouge. "We still have some unfinished business to attend to. She still must get me the Amashi jewel from Tokyo. She really has no choice."

"I think your days of ruling her life are over," Knuckles said confidently. "She doesn't have to listen to you anymore."

Ladronella started to laugh. "You don't know me very well, do you Knuckles? I will always dictate my daughter's life, just like I'm about to do now." She turned to Rouge again. "Get me the Amashi jewel, or both of them die."

"Don't listen to her Rouge!" Knuckles shouted. "Don't be a criminal just to save us!"

He was about to say something else, but he didn't get the chance. The guard next to him turned and began ruthlessly punching him and smacking him with the axe. It was so loud that Rouge's screams to stop were almost incomprehensible. The beatings lasted for about a minute before the guard stepped away. It was painful to look at Knuckles before, but know his face seemed so contorted from swelling and broken bones that he looked like a totally different person, added to his new bruises and cuts slashed across his face. His eyes, which were almost swollen shut, looked at Rouge for a brief second. Then his face fell forward, hanging ominously from the wall.

"Nooooooo!" Rouge cried. "If you killed him, I swear I will make you wish you had never conceived me!"

"I hope he is dead," Ladronella said heartlessly. "I was getting sick of him already. How do you put up with him every day?"

Rouge screamed as she managed to rip her arm free of the guard's grasp and lunge at her mother. Before she could land a kick right to her face, however, one of the other guards grabbed her and threw her into the wall. She immediately rose to her feet and jumped right at the guard. She kicked him into one of the other guards, and then turned around and caught the third with a roundhouse kick. She turned around again only to be sent flying across the room. Her mother's kick to her face left a mark, but she ignored it.

"I don't think you want to do this," Ladronella warned her. "You will lose. After all, you have learned everything from me."

"You don't know how bad I want to kill you right now," Rouge said, trying to maintain a level voice. "But I have other things on my mind. Like getting those two and myself out of here."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Ladronella told her. "I'm not finished with you or your supposed boyfriends. I've had enough of you, you know that. You've been relentless in avoiding me and delaying getting the jewels to me for nearly twenty years. I've somehow managed to put up with you for that long, and my patience has really run out. No, you're not taking them anywhere, not on my life."

Rouge flew furiously at her, but then suddenly swerved away and seemed to disappear. Ladronella backed into the wall, ready for an attack. She looked from side to side, but she couldn't find her. Suddenly she heard something above her and managed to step out of the way of Rouge's drill kick just in time. Ladronella then took advantage of Rouge's current position and reached down to grab her by the throat.

Rouge's hands flung to her neck as she tried to wrestle free from her mother's grip. "I'm through with you!" Ladronella hissed at her. She had really lost her patience. "I'm giving you one last chance. Go and get me that damned jewel or both Knuckles and Shadow will die!"

Rouge looked down into her mother's eyes as she was held in the air by her unforgiving grasp. She realized that she couldn't get around this. She would have to return to Earth, for Knuckles and Shadow.

"You win," Rouge tried to say, but nothing came out. She was running out of breath. She could only mouth her response. "You win. Let me go and I'll get the jewel for you."

Ladronella dropped Rouge onto the hard stone floor, but did not walk away. "And you had better not try to bring any reinforcements here to help you, because if you do, you can guarantee that you will never see either one of those two again, dead or alive. Do you understand?"

Rouge did not look at her mother. "Yes," she said with clenched fists and teeth.

"Good. Now get back to Earth. You only have a few days to return here with the jewel before I kill them."

Rouge stood up. "But you must swear that they will remain unharmed while I am away."

"Of course," Ladronella said in a sincere voice. "Would I lie to you?"

Rouge glared at her mother before turning to leave, with tears falling down her cheeks before she left the dungeons.

After she walked out the door, Ladronella walked over to her guards. "Take these two to the execution chambers. Prepare them to be killed when she returns. I know my daughter will try to return with some large army from Earth. You can bet that these two will die."

The guards smirked as they released Knuckles and Shadow from the wall and carried their unconscious bodies down to the execution holding dungeons. As they left, Ladronella smiled at the door through which Rouge had left. All of the jewels in the universe were going to be hers, and nothing stood in her way now.

It was then that she noticed a small broken metal object on the stone floor. She recognized it immediately.

Nothing, she thought, except for her own flesh and blood.


	13. A Desperate Hour

**Chapter 13: A Desperate Hour**

"And that's how it all happened," Tikal finished. She looked around at all the others to see their reaction. They all seemed a bit confused, especially the purple hedgehog Blaze, who had no idea who Knuckles and Rouge were.

"Did you talk to them?" Sonic asked Tikal.

"I did what I could," she replied, sounding as if she could have and should have done something more. "Their lives are in fate's hands now."

"Where are they now?" asked Amy.

"I don't know," Tikal said. "I told Knuckles to go after Rouge, and he left. I haven't seen either one of them since. Shadow, too, has disappeared."

"We've got to find them," Sonic announced. "I hope they're not in trouble."

"Sonic," said Blaze. "What about our other mission?"

"I have to take care of this first," he told her. "They're my friends. I have to find them and find out what's going on."

Before he could stand up and walk out of Tikal's house, his communicator rang. He rolled his eyes in frustration as he took it out and opened it. There stood a miniature image of the President.

"What is it?" Sonic asked blatantly.

"How about you address me properly and I'll tell you," the President said, sounding quite offended.

Sonic sighed. "Sir."

"Thank you. Anyway, we've just received word from Tokyo that the thief has been spotted near Nagano. They believe that the thief is targeting the Amashi jewel, an ancient gem of the Tokugawa shogunate era. Sonic, if Japan loses this gem, the whole world will fall into an economic depression. It is imperative that you capture the thief before they get away with the jewel."

"Yes sir," Sonic sighed as he shut off the communicator. "I've got to go take care of this," he said to the others. "You guys go find Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge."

"You're not going alone," Blaze said. "This is my mission, too."

"Blaze, they need you," Sonic told her. "I'll be all right by myself. Go with them."

Blaze, seeing that she wasn't going to get through to him, decided to let him have his way. Sonic walked out the door and sped off in the direction of Japan.

* * *

Japan had long been a powerful force in the Pacific and, indeed, the world. Before the first European merchant ships washed up on the shores of an isolated archipelago empire, the Japanese had made a name for themselves in Asia. They had extensive trade with Korea and China. Goods and beliefs traveled what would become known as the Sea of Japan regularly. As Japan became more powerful, it extended its own influence to other areas, and in doing so, found a mysterious stone on the mainland of Asia. The Amashi jewel, as the Tokugawa shogunate revealed it to the world as, became one of Japan's most valuable relics. The Japanese guarded it carefully in an ancient temple near the small village of Nagano, but as Japan became more and more an economic power in the world, the country began to depend on its worth and monetary value. 

So when Tokyo received word that the international jewel thief was on its trail, the whole country became anxious. A near panic ensued and foreigners were distrusted. The people seemed ready for an onslaught when it was just one person that might have the stupidity to even consider plundering the mighty nation of Japan.

This ethnocentrism did not save them as it was intended.

She stood in front of the temple with her head hung. She did not want to do this anymore. She did not have to do this. All she had to do was run to the government, tell them that it was she who had stolen the jewels….

And they would have locked her up and not allowed her to finish her story. Her friends far away would be ruthlessly murdered, and it would all be her fault. Everything would be her fault.

"I don't think so," said a voice above her.

She looked up, startled, only to see the person whom she wanted to see most, and yet the person whom she had to get as far away as possible. She almost called out his name, but she choked on it and ran into the temple.

He leapt from the tree limb that he was resting on and landed in front of the temple entrance. The look in his eyes was determined and unknowingly ignorant. He knew what he would be up against, and yet he hadn't a clue who he was up against.

"You're not going any farther," he told her. "Unless you're on your way to turn yourself in."

"Please," she said, and he couldn't tell if it was a mocking tone or a pleading tone. He decided to go with the first choice.

"I can stop you," he warned her. "And I will if I have to."

"I know you will," she said. She knew she had to make a decision now. She could either give him the truth or give the love of her life his life. There was no contest.

Before he could do anything, she flew suddenly into the air and pummeled him with a drill drive. Before she got up and flew into the temple, he could have sworn he felt a raindrop hit his face, but he looked into the sky and saw clear cloudless blue everywhere. He shook it off and ran in after her.

It grew dark very quickly, and he had to take out his glowing communicator to light the way in front of him. He saw no paths other than the one in front of him, and nothing lurked above or below him, and yet he shined the light ahead of him and could not see her ahead of him. After about five minutes of running at the speed of sound in a straight direction, he began to suspect something. He was so busy pondering this that he clumsily tripped and fell forward, only to be mysteriously shot back to the outside world.

Apparently he forgot to read about how the temple was guarded by tricks and traps such as these. The Japanese had proved their genius in not only the tricks such as the conveyor belt, moving walls, and large, silent fan in the entrance corridor but also in the vulnerable and apparent easiness of infiltrating the temple from the outside. They practically lured trespassers and thieves there, although they had no intention of the unwelcome guests.

He didn't have time to wait for the thief to come back out with the jewel. He walked to the front entrance and tried to think of how to actually get inside the temple. He could not break through the stone walls, nor could he dig into the earth. There were no other entrances into the building except the one in front of him. He turned on his communicator again and stared at the floor directly inside the temple for any small switches that he may have tripped. When there were none, he was puzzled as to how the thief got inside when he couldn't. That's when he remembered that the thief had rocket shoes and could simply hover over the path. He jumped at the wall to his left and clung to it. He used his wall jump maneuver to get across the belt below him and reached the fan within a minute.

Meanwhile, the thief had tripped a laser past the fan. The floor opened beneath her and she tumbled into darkness. When she rose to her feet she found there were walls all around her. Before she started panicking, however, she felt the walls and determined that one of them was dirt, not solid rock. She sent her feet at the dirt and disappeared into the earth.

While she busied herself in the earth, the agent above her dove over the fan and just missed free falling down the same hole as she had. He took out his dark glasses and activated the infrared scanners. Lasers criss-crossed the whole corridor, and as he made it farther down, the space between them grew smaller and smaller. Finally, he reached an area where the whole view in front of him seemed to be red. He had no choice but to dive at it and hope for the best. The best came, oddly enough, as electric light suddenly turned on all throughout the temple. But then he realized that he was in the middle of an endless white void.

The light never reached the thief, who continued to dig through dirt until she reached the end. When she breathed clean air again, she saw three doors in front of her. She sighed heavily and randomly selected the door on the right. It opened easily and she ran up a set of stairs. Suddenly, the stairs began to wind upwards, and eventually they slanted so that the thief felt a growing force pulling her towards the left wall, or what was the left wall. She activated her rocket shoes and eventually found herself hovering under the stairs, which now made up the ceiling of the corridor. The corridor then took a straight downwards drop and she found herself back in the room with the three doors.

Back in the light, the agent's infrared glasses were not picking up anything, and he noticed that the temperature of the area was dropping. His infrared goggles rendered useless, he removed them to find the path in front of him. Stairs led deeper into the earth and as the lights above dimmed, the temperature dropped further. He started shivering uncontrollably as he followed the path down and up, left and right. After what seemed like a mile, he reached an ordinary door at the end of the corridor. When he opened it, he saw ahead of him a glass window that appeared to show some hallway of an office building. He walked towards it, and when he got within a few inches, he saw something suddenly dive down from a room above him. He dove at the glass and alarms began blaring all over what he recognized as the World Bank of Tokyo as the window shattered around him. He now knew the biggest trick of the entire temple: it was all a diversion. He could have simply entered the bank in Tokyo instead of wasting time in Nagano.

At least it did its job with the thief as well.

The thief had already turned the corner and ran down the next hall. She knew where she was now. It was only a matter of time.

They had passed several bankers and employees, but they could do nothing to stop the thief or the agent except to run to alert the authorities. While chaos broke loose at the bank, the thief loomed closer to the jewel.

She turned another corner and disappeared inside a storage closet. She waited until the agent's footsteps were out of hearing range before opening the door again and running down the hall in the opposite direction. Before long, she reached the door to the jewel room.

She was surprised that it was as accessible as it was. The door was even unlocked. That meant that there was one final test.

As soon as she closed the door, she felt the full force of a foot to her face. She stood up and caught a glimpse of the ninja guard before he launched upward and lunged at her. She flew out of the way, but he continued to lunge at her around the room. Finally she used her rocket shoes to soar above the ninja's jumping range. She fired explosive disks at her opponent, but he leaped in the air before they reached the ground. While this distracted him temporarily, she tried to fly down and grab the jewel, but she underestimated his senses, and she was sent flying into the wall. He tried to make another attack on her, but she flung her out just before he reached her, and he fell to the ground with a hand over his stomach. He wouldn't let this faze him.

He jumped at her again, but she flew over him and now stood with her back to the door. He leapt again, but he did not hear the sound of the door open or the thrust of an oncoming attack. He was knocked unconscious by the jump attack intended for his opponent.

The agent's impulsive attack cost him time as well, as the thief managed to grab the Amashi jewel from its stand without anyone to stop her. The agent, still dazed from his collision, could only stand straight with the help of the wall to lean on. Finally, after several minutes of painful and anxious waiting, the agent straightened himself and ran out of the room, fully aware that any more mistakes would ultimately send the world into financial meltdown.

The thief, who was nearing the main entrance and victory, was not even concentrating on that particular setting. She could only think about the ones she was saving, the two most important people in her life. She didn't care if the world fell into despair or that she would be fulfilling the intentions and goals of the person she hated the most in the universe. As long as those two people stayed alive, she could live through it. Both could comfort her when all others shunned her.

She was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice that the agent who had been following her had apparently taken a short cut to the lobby and blocked the exit. Before she could turn her full attention to this, he had hit her with a fierce spin dash. She was too distracted to put up any resistance, so she let herself be knocked into the wall nearby and fall to the floor.

"Now," said Sonic. "Let's see who's been making everyone's lives miserable for too long." He walked over casually to the broken figure of the thief lying on the floor and removed her mask. When he saw the face of a friend under it, his world did a complete 180, but then rage brought it back to normal as he stared coldly at the unconscious figure of Rouge lying there, surrendering, before him.

* * *

When Rouge awoke, she could see metal bars in front of her. It was quiet, she noticed, and there didn't seem to be anyone else there with her, but she could feel a presence. She opened her eyes and saw Sonic staring through the cage at her, a look on his face filled with a complicated mix of misunderstanding and chilly disgust. She felt the chill radiate from his face and travel down her back. She was so sorry.

"Sonic," she started to say, but words failed her. Nothing, not even thoughts of seeing Knuckles and Shadow alive again, could help her now.

"What?" he seemed to spit at her when he responded. "Is this going to be your excuse? Because if it is, I'll go and get the prosecution now."

"You have to trust me…"

"Trust you? I've trusted you—everyone's trusted you—for all of these months. Was that gullibility not enough for you? Do you want us to swallow more lies?"

"I wanted to tell you."

"No you didn't. You had countless opportunities to come clean, even before your criminal spree became serious. So what happened? Have you convinced yourself that you were doing the right thing?"

"I know what I did was wrong!" she shouted. "But it's done, and it's over."

"I know it's over," he muttered.

Before she could protest, he continued. "You took our friendship, Rouge, and you twisted it around the fire of your own greed until it was consumed in flames. You took our trust and buried it in the massive piles of jewels you tried to hoard."

"It wasn't like that—"

"You slept with not only Knuckles, but the secret of your true identity for countless nights. Does he even know? Well, I guess all those jewels weigh more than your 'love' for Knuckles or your 'caring' for your friends, huh? You've always been so materialistic—"

"Stop it, please," she begged. "It was that love that forced me—"

"You did this on your own!" he shouted. She had never heard Sonic shout so loud before in all the time she had known him. Not even the tears shedding from his eyes could put out the fire burning inside them. "You made those decisions! You lied to your friends! You almost killed me and Blaze! You did all of this out of lust!"

"No!" she cried. "I did it out of love!" She noticed that this scene seemed to resemble an earlier that happened only a few days ago, only now she viewed it from the other side. "If only you knew…"

"Then tell me! Tell me everything!"

"I can't! If I do, Knuckles and Shadow will die!"

Sonic stared at her, hesitant to scream at her again. But he refocused. "Even if you did this for those two," he noted. "Do you have any idea how much you've hurt them or everyone else in the world?"

"I know what I did! I was never under the direct control of someone else, but I was blackmailed!"

"By whom?" Sonic asked.

"My mother!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Your mother?"

She continued to explain herself between wiping tears and stuttering. "My mother, Ladronella, conceived me in order to steal all of Earth's jewels and one day bring them to her. Obviously she had grown impatient after some twenty years of waiting and being 'generous,' so she began to threaten me with Knuckles' life. She had this chip she implanted in my head when I was born so that she could stay in touch with me and monitor my behavior, so she knew everything that was going on in my life.

"It became really hard for me to keep doing this while I was around you guys all the time, so I could only collect the jewels closest to me. That changed the night those two agents arrived at Tails' house to find you. Once everyone departed, I could travel more freely around the world without anyone knowing. I made it to Denver shortly after, only to find out you and your friend Blaze had located me in the Rockies. I swear, the only thing that kept me fighting you was the thought of saving Knuckles' life.

"But it wasn't enough. I managed to put together a little label that would lead you and the others to Raul Hernandez so that we wouldn't have those kinds of encounters again. I also tricked the Brazilian government after I heard about your capture of Hernandez so that I could buy myself more time. It just made things easier, I think, for all of us.

"Back on Angel Island, I found what I at the time believed to be Knuckles and Tikal making love to each other. I used that as an excuse to leave Earth and travel to Malterr, the planet which my mother rules with an authoritarian hand. She had been pushing me all along with threats and had finally convinced me to leave for Malterr. I took Shadow with me, but I didn't realize Knuckles had sneaked on board. When he arrived, my mother's guards tranquilized them and took me to the dungeons, where I was interrogated by my mother. I had forgotten a jewel, she said. I purposely left out the Amashi jewel in the foolish hopes of satisfying my mother while keeping the world economy somewhat intact. But she noticed its absence, so I had no choice but to return here."

Sonic seemed to step backwards as he took all of this in. "Rouge, you know we could have helped you."

"You couldn't have, and you still can't. Unless you let me go."

"I'm sorry, but I can't. They would never allow it."

"If I don't get out of here, Knuckles and Shadow will die! Ladronella is still holding them hostage there!"

"Then you have to tell them that," he said, pointing in the direction of the door to the office. "And we'll go to Malterr and free them."

"My mother told me I couldn't bring anyone else back with me. If she sees anyone else arrive with me, she will kill Knuckles and Shadow right there!"

"Well you can't bring the Amashi jewel there," he told her. "You have to do this our way."

"_Our_ way? Listen to you, Sonic. You've transformed into the government agent that you have distrusted for so long. Open your eyes! We all need Sonic the Hedgehog, not CIA agent Sonic! Come back!"

Sonic stopped and looked at himself. He saw a suit that had originally been uncomfortable but had grown to be casual wear. He ran his voice through his head and could almost match it with those of the agents who had come to Tails' house that night.

Then he saw the helpless face of Rouge, his friend. He saw the images of Knuckles and Shadow being held against their will and prepared to die.

"What's happened to me?" he asked, more to himself than Rouge. "I've become the unforgiving, blundering government agent that made so many mistakes that affected me directly." He turned to Rouge. "I'm going to get you out of here," he said, ripping off his agent suit. "And we're going to do it _my_ way."


	14. No More Secrets

**Chapter 14: The Plan**

"Where could they have gone to?" Tikal worried aloud. She turned to the purple hedgehog, Blaze. "Do you know if the President might have any way of tracking Rouge, or at least have a clue where she might be?"

"I doubt it," said Blaze. "He wouldn't know her personally like that—most agents and their superiors tend to keep relations strictly businesslike. You probably know her better than all of us. You have no idea where she could have gone?"

"This is all my fault," said Tikal. "I made Knuckles go after Rouge after she took off, and I'm sure Shadow went to her rescue, too…."

"Tikal, why do you sound so bitter towards Rouge?" asked Tails. "After all, she is making Knuckles happy."

"Why does everyone say that!" the echidna princess yelled in frustration. "I just worry about Knuckles. I think he's in over his head and his relationship with Rouge will end up hurting him in the end. I still don't trust her completely."

"So then why did you tell Knuckles to go after Rouge?" asked Amy.

Tikal seemed to force the answer out of her mouth. "Because I care for him and I want him to be happy."

They were approaching nearby San Francisco as their conversation continued to deepen. When they got to the city, they saw a little coffee shop and decided to take a breather before continuing on their hopeless search. After they had gotten their beverages and began to relax, they turned their heads to the TV screen hanging in the far corner of the café to see if there had been any developments in the international jewel thief case. To their surprise, the first headline to appear was a breaking news bulletin: International Jewel Thief Escapes Prison With Aid From Sonic The Hedgehog.

"What!" cried Tails in disbelief. Everyone's jaws dropped as they watched the situation unfold on the screen in front of them.

"According to Washington officials," began the news reporter, "the world-renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog entered the detention area of the CIA department to pay a visit to the international jewel thief, who had recently been captured thanks to the efforts of Sonic himself."

"All right, Sonic!" Blaze yelled to the TV screen. "It's about time that crook was behind bars!"

"The thief was identified as Rouge the Bat, one of the world's most capable and elusive treasure hunters," the reporter continued.

They all stared at the screen as if it had been the one that had stolen all of the world's jewels. Even Tikal, who had her suspicions all along, shook her head in disbelief. "She lied to us…."

"After several minutes alone with the thief, Sonic presumably broke Rouge out of her cell and took her out of Washington altogether. It is believed that the two individuals have a pre-existing relationship and Rouge is using Sonic as an accomplice in her escape from the authorities. Their current whereabouts are unknown, but if anyone has any information regarding their location, they are directed to call the local police department."

Blaze immediately stood up and hurried out of the café. The others followed her down the street they came from until they were out of the city and in a more secluded area. Blaze seemed infuriated as she stormed off ahead of the others. Suddenly, she stopped and produced her communicator from her suit. She activated it and stood impatiently as a blue hologram materialized above the device.

"Hey Blaze," Sonic began. "I meant to tell you that—"

"You're throwing away everything to protect your friend from what she deserves?" she finished bitterly.

Sonic stared at her for a brief second before regaining his composure. "Now hold on a minute," he said defensively. "Let me explain myself first."

"Sonic," said Tikal. "Don't swallow her lies. She went behind our backs and stole all of those jewels because they meant more to her than we did. She's just trying to get out of punishment."

"Trust me," he replied. "She has a good enough reason."

"OK, let's here it," said Blaze, still fuming.

"I can't tell you now. Meet us back at Angel Island. We have an explanation for what we've done, but it's better if it's discussed privately."

The hologram flickered into nothing and left the group as confused and angry as before. "He better have a good explanation for this," Blaze muttered to herself as she and the others made their way back to Angel Island.

Tikal opened the door to her house and saw Sonic and Rouge standing in the room. She remembered how Knuckles and Shadow were still missing, and she felt that Rouge had something to do with their disappearance as well. She had to keep her mouth closed so as not to spit on her.

"All right, out with it," Blaze almost shouted as the door closed behind them. "Why are you joining her and turning your back on us?"

"I'm not turning my back on you guys," Sonic tried to explain. "Rouge is not innocent; I'm not trying to convince you of that. But she was forced into doing it. She was being blackmailed."

"Did she even think about the sake of the world when she was stealing those jewels?" asked Tails in anger.

"Did she care about the trouble that she put all of us through, including shaking our trust?" Amy inquired.

"Does she feel sorry now for what she did?" wondered Cream aloud.

"Where are the jewels that she stole?" Blaze shouted furiously.

"Where are Knuckles and Shadow?" Tikal questioned them.

There was a pause of silence. "Are you all done?" asked Sonic almost as angrily and impatiently as they had. "I can explain all of it if you just let me talk."

"Sonic," Rouge said quietly, like a frightened child who was being punished for something. "Maybe I should tell them…."

"Don't even talk!" Tikal shouted over her. "Let Sonic tell us."

"Actually, it might be better if you hear it from Rouge," Sonic suggested. "You'll feel more sympathetic."

The others reluctantly agreed as Rouge began her story. She told the all about Ladronella and how she had conceived Rouge just to obtain all of Earth's most precious stones. She told them about how Ladronella threatened Rouge with Knuckles' life if she didn't collect the jewels that Ladronella wanted. Rouge then went on to explain how she tried to not involve the others because if Ladronella knew that she was receiving help in dealing with this, she would have surely had Knuckles killed. That was why she had to put on the act, she said. She had tried leaving when everyone was away or sleeping so they wouldn't know or get involved. She apologized to Blaze for nearly killing her, but she claimed she had no other choice. She even tried leading them to Raul Hernandez to throw them off her trail so as not to fight them anymore. Rouge also told them about the message she sent to the Brazilian president to keep Sonic and the others away from her.

Then she slowly started to talk about how her relationship with Knuckles was deteriorating. Both of them grew increasingly uneasy around one another, as both had a secret that they could not tell the other. Rouge didn't know it at the time, but Knuckles was having secret meetings with Tikal at her house to learn about ways to protect the Master Emerald through mystical methods. The others looked at Tikal to verify this claim, and when she nodded in approval, Rouge continued.

One day, Shadow told Rouge that he had seen Knuckles speaking privately with Tikal. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he felt he should tell Rouge about it. Although she refused to believe that Knuckles would cheat on her, she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. One night, she followed Knuckles just to prove to herself that Knuckles was faithful to her, only to arrive at Tikal's house finding her boyfriend in another girl's arms.

Tikal opened her mouth to speak, but Rouge cut her off. "I know now that it wasn't what I made it out to be. I also know now that I only made it out to be that way so that it would make it easier for me to leave Earth and not have to worry about Knuckles being killed by my mother. I still loved him, even then, but I couldn't show it. I was already thinking of plans to evade Ladronella, and that would have to involve appearing to not love Knuckles anymore."

"So you left him in the dark because you couldn't handle your mother?" asked Tikal. "Do you know how depressed he was after you left?"

"Would you rather see him dead?" Rouge asked in a voice as impatient as Tikal's. "I love Knuckles. I always will. Not even my mother can change that."

"So, what happened after that?" asked Tails curiously.

"I left Tikal's house crying hysterically, and I have come to realize that it wasn't because of what I saw, but because of what I was about to do, and how I would never see Knuckles again. I was leaving Earth. I had collected all but one jewel, and I had purposefully left that one out because I foolishly thought that I could trick my mother and give myself hope that not everything would be ruined. But it's too late…."

"It's not too late!" Blaze shouted. "We can find your mother and end all of this!"

"No!" cried Rouge. "You can't! If I return to my mother with anyone else, she will automatically kill Knuckles and Shadow!"

"Where are they?" demanded Tikal desperately.

Rouge sighed as she finished her story. "Before I left Earth, I went to Shadow. He has always been my closest friend, and he's always helped me through tough times, so I went to find his comfort. I told him everything. He said I shouldn't leave, that I have too much here to leave behind. I couldn't do that, so I asked him to come with me. Of course, he initially refused. He tried to tell me to deal with my problems on Earth, and that I would be making a tragic mistake if I left. I finally convinced him to leave with me, and we took off in a small spaceship destined for Malterr, the terrible planet that I hail from."

"What about—" began Tikal.

"Knuckles must have followed us onboard the ship, because he jumped out of it when we arrived on Malterr, but let me explain…" Rouge gulped. "…what happened on the ship."

This was something she hadn't even told Sonic yet. She had been trying to avoid it now for as long as she could, but she knew that she had to tell them now. If she wasn't completely true with them now, they may never trust her again. So she relaxed her muscles and took a deep breath.

"Before I tell all of you what I did, you have to know that I regret it now and regretted it immediately after doing it. I was just so emotional and so caught up in never seeing Knuckles again that I could barely see straight. Knuckles already knows about it and has allowed himself to forgive me to keep our relationship intact. He knows that I would never betray him…."

"What happened?" Sonic asked after Rouge paused for a minute. "You didn't tell me this."

"I've tried to keep it a secret for as long as I could, but it's not worth it. I need to confess." She sighed and said very slowly, "I…slept with Shadow."

She stood there and watched them all take it in. Everyone's jaw dropped a few feet and their eyes widened to a width never thought possible. It was like hearing Rouge identified as the thief all over again. "You…what?" Tikal pushed the words out of her mouth.

"Shadow was an unwilling participant. Before you can even ponder why Shadow would do such a thing, I should tell you that I drugged him into sleeping with me. He didn't even know what he was doing."

"And did you somehow get a sick satisfaction doing that to Knuckles and Shadow?" Tikal shouted as she lunged for Rouge. She was blind with rage like no one had seen before. She was tired of putting up with all of the lies and deceit and betrayal that this bat had wrought on her friends. She wanted to tear Rouge apart right there. She didn't care if she hurt her or even if she killed her. She wanted to make her suffer like no one else had ever suffered before. Rouge was not innocent, she knew that. But her so-called charm seemed to infect all of the males around her. Now even Sonic was pulling Tikal off of Rouge as she was swinging her fists in a fury she had never known and the others had never seen.

"Tikal," Sonic tried to explain calmly. "Rouge was broken…"

"She's not broken. At least not yet!"

"I know Rouge did something completely wrong, but we need to move past this if we want to save Knuckles and Shadow."

"The only way we can ever keep them safe is if we remove this miserable bitch from their lives! All she ever does is hurt them and anyone else that cares about her. She's anything but selfless and innocent. You all fall for her act and I don't know why. Rouge is just a whining, miserable, conniving, manipulative whore that relishes in ruining the lives of all of my friends! I've had enough of it! Let me go!"

"I'm sorry!" cried Rouge. She was in tears. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I'm sorry that Knuckles and Shadow are being held hostage right now. All of this is my fault and my problem. But I will make it right, I promise!"

"Rouge, you're not going to do this alone," Sonic told her. "We're all going with you."

"You can't!" she shouted. "If you do, my mother will kill them!"

"Sonic and myself are both government agents, and you are too," Blaze reminded her. "We can sneak around the planet and find your friends. It's nothing we won't be able to handle."

"You don't understand," said Rouge desperately. "My mother controls that planet! She knows everything that goes on over there!"

"How many times have we broken into Eggman's bases before?" Tails reminded her. "We can do this!"

"We will rescue Knuckles and Shadow, and stop Ladronella!" Cream shouted.

"This is different," Rouge told them. "She actually has them prepared to be executed right now. She almost expects me to come back with some sort of rescue team."

"We don't have a choice," Tikal said rather calmly. "Rouge can't go by herself. No matter how much I hate her," she stared at Rouge coldly and unforgivably. "I won't let Knuckles and Shadow die because of my anger. We'll settle this later, Rouge. You won't be getting off so easily."

Rouge tried to ignore Tikal's threats. "But I may be able to save them if I go alone. Ladronella may send them back here and…I would stay there. Forever."

"There are two problems with that theory," Sonic noted. "First, how do you know Ladronella will send them back. If she does, she should expect an army from Earth to invade Malterr. Second, there's no way we'd ever let you stay there forever. We're going with you, whether you like it or not."

Rouge let a smile spread across her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you all for understanding and forgiving me. I'm truly sorry for everything that I did to all of you, and I will make it up to you. I promise."

"We'll collect debts later," said Blaze. "Right now, we've got an echidna and a hedgehog to rescue."

They all shouted their agreements as they made for Rouge's spaceship hidden in the jungle.


	15. Heroes Unite

**Chapter 15: Heroes Unite**

Shadow had been awake for some time now, but everything was still hazy and dark. He had no idea how long he and Knuckles had been held in the dungeons, and there seemed little hope that Rouge would be able to come back and win their freedom. But he wouldn't lose hope.

He took a minute to look around and try to observe his surroundings. He had never expected himself to end up in a place like this, far away from Earth in a dark dungeon, waiting to be executed. Knowing that he may very well never leave this rock didn't shake him. It took a lot more than that to weaken his resolve.

Shadow began to think about Rouge. He thought about how much she had been through for the past…well, he didn't know how long. He admired her for it. Her ability to resist her mother for so long and still maintain her life like that took a lot from her. But she had always been like that: determined, if not loyal.

And then…the image of her naked body before him crept into his mind. That did send shivers down his spine as he struggled to push that memory out of his mind. She didn't tempt him. He was more repulsed by what she had done, and what he allowed himself to do. He had played a part in destroying a relationship. He feared that it was only a matter of time before Knuckles fully processed what happened. Shadow knew that he was only masking his feelings because Ladronella was there, waiting for him to say what he really wanted to say. But what Knuckles did was proof that he still loved Rouge, even after what she did. They really were made for each other. Fate brought them together, and nothing, not even believed affairs, would tear them apart.

Shadow heard Knuckles stir across from him. "Knuckles?" he called out in the darkness. "You awake?"

"Rouge," Knuckles murmured across the dungeon. "I'm…sorry…"

Shadow sat in silence for a few more minutes before Knuckles woke up. "Shadow? Are you over there?"

"Yeah."

"Anything happened yet?"

"Not as far as I know."

"Rouge will come back," Knuckles said optimistically. "And then we can all go home…."

"Things can never go back to the way they were," Shadow interrupted. "Too much has happened."

"Shadow, I'm not blaming you or Rouge for what happened. I know there was no feeling involved."

"But it still happened!" Shadow shouted. "You can't deny that."

"We need to focus on defeating Ladronella first," said Knuckles. "What's done is done. We need to put it behind us."

"What is it like?" Shadow asked curiously. "What does it feel like to be that deep in love?"

Knuckles chuckled. "The best feeling in the world."

"I only wish I can find that one day."

"Who knows? Your true love may have been by you all along."

Shadow raised his eyebrow in the dark. "I doubt that."

His heart secretly leapt, and he didn't even know why.

Suddenly a loud bang echoed throughout the dungeons as one of the guards threw the door open. If there were light on Malterr, it would have blinded the two captives, for they had certainly been in the dungeons for at least 24 hours. But the world outside was almost as dark, and neither Knuckles nor Shadow could make out the outline of the guard approaching them. He mutely unchained them from the wall but kept their hands and feet shackled and led them out of the dungeon like a pair of dogs at the pound being brought to execution. They had every reason to believe that they were, indeed, being brought to their death. Rouge had returned.

They stepped out into the light, but felt no warmth. Knuckles and Shadow held their heads high, neither one ready to die. They hadn't discussed a back-up plan, but both felt it might just be better to escape when they could, for they had no idea what would happen next. With even the starlight obscured by clouds and darkness, Ladronella's guard led Knuckles and Shadow across the cold catwalk to the execution chambers.

When they approached the door, the guard punched a code into the security pad on the wall, and the doors slid open instantly. Knuckles and Shadow were then thrown into the room, and the doors slid shut behind them. They both stood up and tried to look around, but it was near pitch black. "Great, another dungeon," Knuckles grumbled. "We've got to find a way to get out of here."

"I don't think you'll be able to do that," said a chilling voice from the darkness.

Suddenly, lights flickered on in the dungeon, and Knuckles and Shadow found themselves staring at Ladronella. She looked white as ever under the light, and nearly twice as sinister. But she was also alone and unguarded. Knuckles took a step forward, but before he put his foot down, a force next to him nearly knocked him over. When he looked up, Ladronella was in the air, and Shadow was gone. Suddenly, a black blur flew past him and charged toward Ladronella. Ladronella sank to the floor, but Shadow followed her down and created a small tornado around her. The force of the wind inhaled her and she was thrown across the dungeon.

"Maybe you should turn the lights off," Shadow mocked. "It's clearly not a fair fight."

But Ladronella landed on her feet. "Pathetic hedgehog," she mused. "You don't know what you're up against."

Knuckles rushed forward at Ladronella, but he was not as fast as Shadow. She stepped out of the way and stuck her foot out to trip him. Knuckles saw it and immediately jumped above her and drilled down at her. She could not avoid this strike and collapsed as Knuckles struck her down. Before she could get up, Shadow hit her with his jump attack. Knuckles charged at her for another blow, but she flew up to the ceiling and waited for them to strike.

"Your move, Ladronella," Knuckles told her.

Before he could blink, Ladronella's foot appeared in front of his face, and he was sent flying into the wall. The blow was enough to almost knock him out, but he struggled to his feet as Shadow kept her busy.

Shadow began to run around in dizzying circles at lightning speed, but Ladronella was not confused. She suddenly swooped down at what seemed to Knuckles to be thin air, but she hit Shadow with a powerful kick that knocked him to the ground. Knuckles landed a punch to her head and sent her sliding into the wall.

Shadow rose to his feet and sped forward with Knuckles to attack her once more, but Ladronella had had enough. She lifted off the ground at a furious speed and drill-kicked them both in a single hit. Both Knuckles and Shadow collapsed, but not before flying into the wall after Ladronella kicked them.

"Don't even get up," Ladronella advised them. "You can't win."

"I never give up," Knuckles grunted as he forced himself to his feet. "You'll have to kill us first."

"Oh believe me, I intend to," Ladronella stated as she lunged forward. She lifted off just before reaching them, then came down again with a drill kick.

"I was almost expecting a challenge from such renowned heroes," she laughed as she placed her high-heeled boot on Knuckles' head. "But I guess I should never assume…"

Shadow started to rise, but Ladronella made a move to stop him. "One more move and Knuckles here will have his skull crushed," she purred in a forceful tone.

She snapped her fingers and the doors to the dungeons shot open. Darkness filled the room as more guards entered to force Knuckles and Shadow onto the execution tables. "You know I just gave you a chance to escape," Ladronella admitted to them. "But if you can't defeat me, especially with your combined efforts, I'm afraid you don't deserve to leave—or live."

The fight had fatigued Knuckles and Shadow unexpectedly, but they fought with all their strength against the power of the guards. Knuckles tried to break free, but before he could he was slammed into the wall by the guard. The brute then produced a fine needle with a purple serum in it and stabbed it into Knuckles' arm. The guard slowly pushed down on the needle and watched the purple fluid enter Knuckles' bloodstream. Knuckles instinctively stood up but then slowly collapsed to the floor. He struggled with all he had to stand up again, but the drug was beginning to take effect, and before long, his muscles were completely paralyzed. He shouted as he fought against the drug's power, but his will alone could not break it, and he was left lying on the floor.

"This is much better than I had anticipated," Ladronella mused as she stood over his crippled body. "You can't even move. What a way to die."

"No!" Knuckles tried to shout as a guard lifted his stiff form off the ground. He then threw Knuckles on the table so hard that he nearly broke through it. "Aaaahhhh!" cried Knuckles as he writhed inside a paralyzed body.

The guards strapped Knuckles and Shadow onto the tables after Shadow, too, was forcibly given the paralyzing serum. "Shadow, if you valued your life, you should have ignored Knuckles' and escaped," Ladronella noted. "But now, you're both going to die anyway."

"It isn't over yet, you sick, twisted bitch," Shadow breathed out as his head was locked into place. "We will get out of here, and you will die."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to watch you die the deaths you deserve," she said as she walked towards the exit. "Rouge is on her way with an army, I'm sure. She's more selfless than you would think. She would throw away your lives to destroy me and save the galaxy from my ultimate rule. You know that, don't you?"

She closed the door before they could muster an answer, and left them to die as a ship landed at the hidden port roughly a mile away from the execution chambers.

* * *

The port's hangar bay guards looked up as the ceiling slid inward and allowed a patrol ship to descend into the hangar. As the ship prepared to land, the guards walked towards the landing pad and awaited the patrolmen to step off the landing platform. The senior space traffic controller had told them that a patrol ship had detected the ship of the daughter of Malterr approaching the Planet, and had captured it. The patrolmen docked their craft with the daughter's ship, took control of it, killed all those aboard the ship except for the daughter, took the jewels that were onboard the ship, detached from the ship, and destroyed it. They were now bringing the daughter in as a prisoner and taking her to be questioned.

Once the ship landed and shut down, the pilots assembled outside the ship with the prisoner following behind them. Her head hung in shame and sadness at her loss, but the guards paid no attention. They spoke to the patrolmen in their primitive Malterrian dialect, but the prisoner could easily understand them.

"Ukg rindon haf dahwel zir klergh hatimret qashuj nresa?" the guards asked gruffly.

"Fujhk hibnami trad klerupti wugduop ladth maan," replied the patrolmen.

"You will pay for what you've done to my friends!" the daughter shouted as tears glimmered in her eyes and fell to the cold floor beneath her feet. "I will make you all pay!"

Suddenly, she lifted off the ground and lunged at one of the patrolmen. Her speed and force knocked him across the hangar, and he slammed into the wall. Then the daughter turned around with fire in her eyes as she jumped into the air and landed her boot into the chest of the guard, and he fell to the cold floor with a force that knocked him unconscious. The scene had directed attention from the other hangar guards, and they all closed in around the prisoner with menacing eyes. One guard lunged forward at her, but she jumped up onto his head and propelled herself into the air once more. The prisoner then activated rocket boots that kept her out of the reach of the bulky guards, but they pursued her nonetheless.

She flew in the direction of the collapsed patrolman lying unconscious against the wall, much to the confusion of the guards. Just before an inevitable collision with the limp form, she flew up into the air, but the guards didn't have time to know what happened next. The next thing they knew, they were all defeated on the floor, and the prisoner had escaped with the patrolman.

* * *

They sighed a short relief as the hangar doors slid shut behind them. "Are you okay?" Rouge asked the patrolman.

"I'm fine," he said in Sonic's voice. Suddenly the image of the patrolman shivered and vanished in front of her, and Sonic sat in its place. "I'm gonna call Blaze and the others and let them know we're inside."

"I have to get to the execution chambers," said Rouge. "It won't be long before Ladronella learns what happened here. You'll need to lie low but keep moving."

"Don't worry," Sonic assured her. "They'll never know I'm here."

Sonic pushed a button on the device strapped to his chest, and the image of the patrolman reappeared.

"Wait for my signal. You know what to do from there," Rouge reminded him.

Sonic gave an A-OK before turning and heading off down the corridor. Rouge was surprised at how fast his bulky camouflage let him move as he ran to his position.

Rouge then turned and ran with all the might in her to the door at the end of the hall. She barely stopped to let the door open as she sprinted down the path to the dungeons. She could only pray she was not too late.

* * *

"You think they made it?" Tails asked. He spoke quietly as if all of Malterr could hear him.

"Don't send a transmission," Blaze told him. "Sonic will contact us when it's time to come out."

"But what if there's a bad transmission?" Tikal worried aloud. "After all, we are off-planet, and those things are designed for more close-range communication."

"And what if Sonic and Rouge fail to get there in time?" asked Cream. "Shadow and Knuckles depend on them!"

"You guys are worrying too much," Amy assured them. "Sonic and Rouge practically live for this stuff. It's their job."

"They'll make it," said Blaze as she looked on with the others at the brown ball in front of them. Their ship lay hidden and unharmed on Frezon, the moon of Malterr, waiting to reveal itself and the hope of victory it carried onboard.

* * *

After nearly five minutes of flight Rouge finally located the execution chamber below her. Almost 100 feet in the air, she used a surprise drill kick to take out the guard in front of the door. She knew that there was a good chance the guards inside had heard the thud, so her fingers moved rapidly to enter the code and open the door. It slid open, and she was knocked to the floor, out cold.

* * *

When her head got the strength to lift itself, Rouge slowly opened her eyes. She began to make out a vision of the dungeon, and soon it cleared to reveal her mother standing in front of her and next to Knuckles' execution table. When the image fully hit Rouge, she shot up and almost lunged forward, but her mother's hand stopped her.

"Don't be foolish," Ladronella warned her. "A snap of my fingers and your poor boyfriends will be decapitated."

Rouge narrowed her eyes at Ladronella, desperately thinking of her next plan. "I should have kept my promise and killed these two already," said Ladronella. "But I thought it would be more fun to let you watch as your own mistakes lead to the death of your friends. Speaking of friends, where is your little band of heroes? They helped you get this far, so where are they now?"

Rouge almost smiled as she said, "Couldn't find them?"

Ladronella wasted no time. "Where are they?"

Rouge stood in silence. When she made no reply, Ladronella brought her fingers up to snap. "Wait!" Rouge screamed. Ladronella did not drop her hand.

"I have the Amashi jewel," Rouge announced. "I have it with me right now."

"Fantastic," Ladronella mused. "Give it to me."

Seeing no way out, Rouge reached into her pocket. She was about to pull it out when her mother stopped her again.

"Wait," said Ladronella. "Call off your friends first. I don't want any surprises."

Rouge stopped fishing for the gem and stood there defiantly. Ladronella stared at her, then suddenly shouted, "Do it!"

Startled, Rouge took her communicator and activated it. Within seconds, Sonic's voice came out of the speaker. "Rouge?"

"Sonic," she replied.

"What is it?" he asked.

Rouge stood there staring at her mother. Ladronella made a move to command her once again, but Rouge spoke before she could. "Call them off," she stated simply.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"Call them off," Rouge repeated.

"But…Rouge—"

"Damn it, Sonic, call them off!" she shouted. "She's here."

Sonic's sigh hissed out of the speaker. "All right."

Rouge shut off the device and returned it to her pocket. Her eyes slowly raised to face her mother, who stood there grinning. She had finally won. She had gotten everything she had wanted. All fifty years of toiling and searching had led to this moment. She held her hand out and let it tremble with one last yearning. "Give me the jewel, Rouge."

"Let them go," Rouge said flatly. "And you can have me and the jewel."

"Not a chance."

"I've told the others to call everything off. There's no plan now. No attack. I've given you everything and I'm about to give you more. All I'm asking is that Knuckles and Shadow be set free. They can go home with the others, never to return here again. They can all conveniently forget about me and claim that I died. No one on Earth will know about this, and they can continue their futile search for their international jewel thief."

"Don't be stupid," said Ladronella. "They won't return to Earth without their jewels. Word will reach Earth about Malterr, and I will lose everything. I'm not about to accept that as a choice. You, my daughter, have no choice. You and all your friends will be prisoners here forever, just as soon as they are found. You can either give me the jewel and spare the lives of your friends as they become life prisoners, or you can refuse me the jewel and watch them all die before you yourself are killed. What's it going to be?"

Rouge retrieved the Amashi jewel from her pocket. She stood there, apparently enamored with it. It absorbed what little light floated in the room and shot it back to create a source of light itself. It was so beautiful in her hand. She could see everything inside its crystal form. She saw Angel Island against a magnificent sunset. She saw Sonic and Shadow having another pointless race from point A to point B. Amy sat on the grassy hill and watched as Tails tried to impress Cream with his latest invention. Tikal sat on the grass deep in thought and meditation. And Knuckles just sat there beside her, smiling at everything she was.

The missile's tailfire shined like an enormous falling star speeding towards them. Rouge smiled. "It's going to be all right."

The missile collided with the dungeon with a force that knocked everyone to their feet faster than they could blink. The loud crash was followed by a blinding light that brought forth massive stones and metal blocks and dirt and dust that consumed all. No one's scream was heard over the explosion or it's aftermath. Silence set in the dungeon once more.

* * *

Knuckles' eyes opened slowly to the world around him. Expecting darkness, he was nearly blinded by white light all around him. He could faintly hear the beeps of a heart monitor and slowly began to realize the air tubes in his nose. The blurry images around him began to focus and he saw the peaceful form of Tikal sitting by his bedside. However, she was paying attention to his monitors, so when she looked over at him, her eyes widened with excitement.

"Guys!" she shouted as softly as she could. "He's awake!"

The others came running in to the room. They were all standing there in the doorway, happy to see him alive and awake. Rouge came running past them and over to his side, where she bent over him and kissed him gently on his forehead. Knuckles felt so grateful just to be there. At that moment, he truly appreciated everything in his life: all of his friends, his girlfriend, his home on Angel Island, and all of the adventures that brought him closer and closer to the people that he loved so much. They had definitely changed his life. Knuckles knew that he would not be the same person had he not known and befriended these people.

"What happened?" he finally asked when he got the strength to.

Rouge sighed and began the story. "Ladronella led you and Shadow to the dungeons to be killed. Shadow told me you tried to fight back, but to no avail. She drugged you two and…" she stopped. Knuckles could tell Rouge was holding back intense anger and hatred. "She…ruthlessly had you beaten nearly to death before I got there. She tried to threaten me with your lives, but Tails managed to get the ship in firing range of the dungeon. He fired a missile at Sonic's signal, and the place caved in. They landed the ship nearby and got you, me, and Shadow out. And, well, here we are."

Knuckles looked around at all his friends and stopped when he saw a purple hedgehog standing next to Sonic. "I don't believe we've met," he said, looking at her.

"Oh," she said. "I'm Blaze. I'm a CIA agent working with Sonic to bring in the international jewel thief."

"I see," said Knuckles. "I'm Knuckles. I'm sure you know all about me."

"Yes, they've told me everything." She turned to the others. "So are we going to get this plan underway?"

Sonic stepped forward and cleared his throat. "For those of you who aren't aware right now," he began. "We're on our way back to Malterr. We've been away for a few hours, and I'm sure Ladronella has fully recovered by now. But she's vulnerable for attack while she has dispatched forces looking for us. We still have the Amashi jewel," he said pointing to Rouge, who pulled it out of her pocket. "And she's going to stop at nothing to get it."

Blaze continued with the plan. "When we get into the atmosphere, we'll fly fast and low and drop everyone except Tails and Cream on to the surface. They'll return to the upper atmosphere and engage the air forces and keep them from hindering us. But they'll need some of our help."

"That's right," said Tails. "The first thing you guys are going to try to do when you get down there is go to the hangar and disrupt as many take-offs as possible. Sonic, Blaze, Amy, and Shadow will run to the hangar and try to stop them from getting airborne. Meanwhile, Knuckles, Rouge, and Tikal will make their way to the port of Desordia and rally the people to rebel against their rulers. We're gonna need all the help we can get, so we need to free as many Malterrians as possible without wasting too much time."

"Once we liberate the city, we're going to take any pilots we can find and meet up with the others at the hangar," said Rouge. "By then, the hedgehogs should have taken control of the hangar. When we get enough pilots in the air, we'll send the signal to Tails and Cream to come down to the surface. Then we'll all go down to Ladronella's underground palace and make our way to the safe room where the jewels are being kept. Some of us are going to have to distract guards while we're there, but we'll talk more about that when we get there."

"So does everyone got it?" asked Sonic. He looked around and saw everyone nod in agreement.

"All right," he said. "Let's do this thing, guys. Hands in."

Everyone brought their hands in to the center ready to shout. "Heroes on three," said Sonic. "One, two, three—"

"Heroes!" they all shouted in unison.


	16. The Battle Begins

**Chapter 16: The Battle Begins**

The blow sent the senior space traffic controller flying into the wall across the room. When his body collapsed to the floor, he was allowed one glimpse of a moment to reflect on why he was receiving this punishment. He knew it was coming, especially after he heard what happened to the Mistress at the execution chamber. He could have fled the planet altogether, and he probably should have for his own sake. But she would have found him. The Mistress did not handle mistakes too lightly.

His dazed vision picked up what appeared to be nine guards stumbling toward him. He knew there were only three, but that was still two too many. He might have been able to fend one guard off, but three at a time was nearly impossible. And besides, he couldn't fight back. He had earned this after letting the prisoners into Malterr.

The senior space traffic controller braced himself like a youngling surrounded by massive bullies. Cowering in the corner of the Mistress's public office, he watched his life flash before his eyes. As the beating began, he could slightly make out the heavy breathing of the brutes above him. Every blow punished him for his idiocy; every hit reminded him of his inferiority. He could do nothing but lie there and let those younger Malterrians beat him to an agonizing and humiliating death.

For another moment, the attack ceased, but inside his cracked skull, his senses knew what was coming. Whatever was left of the senior space traffic controller lay in a helpless form as one of the guards produced his heavy axe. Within a split second, the disfigured head of the former controller rolled slightly away from its bruised and bloodied body before forever settling a foot away from the large shoulders it once rested upon.

Ladronella slammed her fist on her desk hard enough to make the decapitated head bounce an inch off the floor. She screamed through her teeth and let her full and present anger finally leave from her body. "Damn her!" she shouted loud enough for her whole palace to hear. She kicked over her desk as if it were an empty cardboard box. One of her guards moved to right it again, but she held out a hand to stop him. "Don't bother," she said angrily. "I won't be needing it anymore. I'm almost done here."

She turned to face the only window in the office. "She will not get away with this," she muttered, apparently much calmer now. "She brought her friends here, tricked my high-ranking officers, and managed to rescue her friends from the dungeons. And I still do not have the Amashi jewel." Ladronella now turned to face her henchmen. "Rouge has made it clear that she is not going to compromise with me. She has resisted any attempt to peacefully take the jewel, and she has directly attacked me and my fortresses. She is leaving me no choice but to kill her and her pathetic friends.

"I want them found. All of them. If you find any of her friends, kill them outright. If you find Rouge, bring her to my throne room. I will deal with her myself. Take what air squads are available and hunt them down. We will not wait for them to make the first move. And strengthen our own defenses with everyone we have. I will not watch fifty years of hard work go up in flames. Do not come back alive if your targets are not dead. Now go."

The guards turned and stormed out of the office with a fire in their eyes. Calling on all of their strength and power, they prepared themselves for the battle of their world.

* * *

The brown speck in the distance grew to the size of a moon as _The Hidden Jewel _came out of hyperspace. While Rouge guided the ship towards the giant rock, Tails figured in the coordinates of Desordia and locked them on to the computer. They were going to have to be quick and strike hard, so they needed to know exactly where they were going. Before Tails could turn to tell Rouge, the ship shook under the firepower of an enemy fighter behind them.

The lighting flickered once before the ship stabilized. "I'm gonna try to lose them," Rouge said to Tails. "This is going to be tricky."

"No," said Tails. "Go down and wait with the others. Cream and I can handle it from here. You need to be ready to jump out."

"Are you sure you know what you're up against?" Rouge said before the ship took another hit. "These guys are ruthless. They put Eggman to shame."

"Just go! I got it. Send Cream up when you get there."

Rouge sighed and rolled her eyes as she stood up and walked to the door. When she closed it behind her, Tails moved to the pilot's chair and began to guide the ship off to the right and away from the line of fire of the Malterrian vessels. When he could get the ship balanced, he picked up the two-way communicator to the holding area of the ship. "Hang on, guys," he said. "I'm gonna try some tricks here, but I have to do some twists and turns or we might not make it to Malterr."

"Just do what you gotta do," Sonic's voice came out of the radio.

Tails flipped off the communicator and veered left suddenly when he saw on the radar an enemy fighter coming in from the left behind him. The door to the cockpit opened and Cream practically fell in as Tails dove the ship under a fighter coming straight at them. "Are you alright?" asked Tails. He felt the urge to go over and help her up, but he knew he had to stay with the ship.

"I'm OK," said Cream as she rose to her feet. "Are we almost to Desordia?"

"Well, I've gotta lose these guys behind me otherwise we'll be shot down before we enter the atmosphere," he explained. "Strap yourself in. This could get shaky."

She walked over to the copilot's seat and strapped in. Just as her belt clicked, another blast hit the ship. Tails looked up worriedly at the shield generator monitor and noticed that it was low on power. A couple of more direct hits and their shields were gone. It was time to go on the offensive.

Tails broke left to swing around his attackers. He managed to get one within firing range. A couple of laser blasts knocked it away, but were not enough to destroy it. The readings indicated strong shields with a lot of firepower, but low agility and speed. This would have been great news if _The Hidden Jewel_ was fast, but it was barely faster than the Malterrian fighters. Tails felt he had no choice but to stay and fight, and least for now.

The fighter he attacked before strayed into his firing range once more. More laser blasts would take too long, and time was something they didn't have a lot of. He opened the controls for the heat-seeking missiles and fired one away. The Malterrian ship tried in vain to lose it before exploding in a ball of fire.

"Good job, Tails!" exclaimed Cream.

Tails blushed sheepishly. "Thanks," he said. He regained his composure. "But that was only one of about twenty. And we don't have time for this."

The shield generator was able to recharge somewhat before taking another hit that brought it back to its low point before. Tails knew he couldn't go in with these many fighters on him. It wouldn't be safe to drop the others off on the surface, and he could be destroyed easily once he took off again. He pulled up and right to dodge more fire while he thought of a good plan of getting down to Desordia with enough shields to drop the others off and take off.

Suddenly, a ship appeared in front of him and fired a blue ball of light at _The Jewel_. Tails dove just in time as the ion blast rocketed overhead and actually hit the ship behind him, disabling it.

"Well, that makes things a little easier," Tails sighed as he pulled left and led a group of fighters to oncoming attackers. "Now they can't be dumb enough to…"

He seemed to fly right at a cluster of fighters before pulling up. He looked on his radar to see four dots disappear as a pair behind him flew into a pair in front of him. "Wow," he said out loud. "They are that dumb."

With six fighters decommissioned or destroyed, Tails relaxed a little and leveled the ship out. Before he could move again, the ship shook under the shot of another fighter, and the shield generator alarm began to blare.

"Oh no!" Cream squeaked. "Our shields are gone!"

"That's what I was afraid of," said Tails, looking up at the monitor. He couldn't stay and fight anymore. He would have to buy time and concentrate on losing fighters. Any shot now posed a direct threat to everyone on board, and he wasn't going to play games with their lives.

Tails tried a bunch of crazy turns and loops and everything else that could get more time for the shield generator to come back on. It would take at least a minute if not longer to get even minimal power back on. He and Cream almost fell over as he dove the ship to the right and began to spin it slowly. They managed to catch out of the corner of their eyes some laser blasts that just missed the ship that passed off into space. "That was too close," Tails noted.

He righted the ship and flew full speed at Malterr. He wasn't flying directly at Desordia, but he didn't have time. Some of his maneuvers threw off his attackers, and he used that time to go in fast and hard. With all boosters running at full power, Tails began to let the gravity suck the ship into orbit and into the atmosphere. He lowered the boosters and sank the ship into the upper atmosphere. He began scanning the radar for enemy guns or ships in the air, and was startled to see enemy dots all over the radar, some very close to the ship's level. He took a quick look at the shield monitor and noticed that some power had been restored, but not nearly close enough to full, and he couldn't get through that cloud of red on the radar. So he pulled up a bit and let the ship linger in the upper air to get some shield power back.

That's when shots fired behind him. Two managed to hit the ship from behind as his attackers returned at full power. With shields nearly gone again, Tails sighed and veered left towards what he hoped was Desordia. "This is not going to be easy," he said aloud.

"I believe in you Tails," replied Cream. "You can do it!"

Tails face turned red again. "Thanks," he muttered shyly. He suddenly felt as though he could have penetrated that red cloud of enemies, but his mind got the better of him and he stayed his course. Trying to keep calm but aware, Tails flew towards Desordia.

Descending towards the surface, Tails could see the rock below as the gray clouds cleared around the ship. A few laser blasts from behind rocketed past the ship and impacted the hard rock below, leaving charred spots on the brown land. Tails continued his twists and turns while maintaining his destination. Before long, the pointed needles of Desordia's bleak skyline lay in view.

"Cream, grab the communicator," Tails instructed. "Tell the others to get ready."

Cream did so, and Tails opened the hatch. He positioned himself over a wide causeway that traversed a wide crater below. The radar showed that it led to both the city and the hangar. "Get ready," said Tails to Cream. He checked the radar one more time to make sure it was relatively clear. He saw only a few red dots approaching the ship, so he lowered the ship just above the walkway and gave the signal as he slowed the ship.

"Go!" shouted Cream into the communicator.

Tails kept the ship low for a moment before raising it up into the air. He closed the hatch and broke right to see the tiny figures of all the others on the surface below. Sonic, Shadow, Amy, and Blaze ran with full speed across the canyon towards the hangar, while Knuckles, Rouge, and Tikal dove off the walkway and into the crater below. "They're all away," said Tails, relieved. "Now let's cover them until they can safely get to the hangar."

* * *

Amy ran full speed down the catwalk. Across from Blaze, in front of Shadow and behind Sonic, she was surprised at her own speed. She tried to erase everything from her mind except getting to that hangar. But while she kept her focus strong, she could not help but swerve out of the way of a laser blast from an enemy fighter above. She shook her head and mentally kicked herself for believing it to be that easy yet. She would have to stay aware of the fighters above her, but she could do little except dodge the impending shots as she blasted towards the hangar.

Still, she couldn't help but watch _The Hidden Jewel_ as it zipped and sped furiously above them in an effort to protect them from aerial attack. Tails was really amazing sometimes, and it was in these kinds of times when all of his piloting skills and his courage really showed. Amy felt that sometimes she didn't really appreciate all that Tails did for her, especially saving her from Eggman numerous times. She would have to say something to him after this battle, when victory called for such praises.

As Tails drew more fire away from the hedgehogs on the surface, Amy looked over at Blaze. Although she had been jealous of her ever since she joined up with Sonic, she couldn't ignore her solid determination and quick thinking in dangerous situations. Looking back on the incident at Toronto, Amy remembered that she owed Blaze her life for saving her from Hernandez. Again, she kicked herself mentally for taking for granted all that her friends had done for her. She vowed to make it up to Blaze when she got the chance.

After a few moments of running at supersonic speed, the hangar loomed over the horizon. Amy put away her thoughts of after the battle and braced herself for the attack to come.

* * *

The earth of Malterr was certainly much harder to navigate than that of Earth. Tikal had a difficult time keeping up with Knuckles and Rouge as they dove off the causeway and seemed to plummet through the crust beneath them. Of course she didn't have the powered up gloves or boots, but she managed to at least keep them in her sights as she shoveled with all of the strength her body could muster. They had to get to Desordia's urban area as fast as possible and spark the rebellion their group needed to win the fight. The excitement and anxiousness overcame her as she plowed through stone and dirt after Knuckles and Rouge, who seemed to be making a race out of the task. She just laughed to herself and followed them through the ground.

Suddenly, Rouge stopped up ahead, and Tikal could barely slow herself down in time to stop with her. Knuckles had gone too far past and had to backtrack to where the girls had stopped. Rouge told the echidnas that they were directly beneath one of the sewer pipes under the city streets and that they could easily break into it and follow it to the prison cells. They then could sneak into the holding chambers and release the citizens imprisoned there. With their help, they could defeat the guards and take control of the prison, and then move on to the rest of the city. Knuckles and Tikal nodded in agreement and slowly approached the surface with Rouge.

When Rouge's toe kicked something hard above her, she reared her heart-tipped boot back and swung it forward with full force, puncturing a large hole in the metal pipe. The echidnas followed her up and into the sewer, upon which their hands flung to their faces.

"Oh yeah," Rouge's muffled voice came from beneath her glove. "It's rancid down here. Upkeep is obviously almost nonexistent on Malterr, so the sewers are almost unbearable. I wouldn't be surprised if there were toxic gases and liquids down here, so watch your step."

Even Knuckles, who had been in sewers numerous times before, looked down in disgust as he and the girls drudged through the murky filth. "Are you sure we have to take the sewers?" he asked Rouge. "I'd rather just dig my way there and attack them head on."

"We have to go this way, Knuckles," she insisted. "A sneak attack's our only option, and the sewer, although vile, makes a perfect surprise entrance, and it will be easier to fight our way out than to fight our way in."

Knuckles laughed. "Well, you _are_ the government agent."

They approached an intersection of sewer pipes and were about to cross it when they heard movement to their right. They stopped dead as two Malterrian guards marched through the sludge in front of them. With nowhere to hide, the three heroes decided to move out and silence the guards. Before they even knew what hit them, their unconscious bodies lay half submerged in the green-brown water.

"Nice moves, Tikal," said Rouge. "I didn't know you could fight like that."

Tikal chuckled. "I guess you don't know much about me, do you?"

"Girls," Knuckles interrupted. "Let's keep moving."

They both gave him looks as they continued their trek. "What?" he said in defense of himself. "We can have our little contests when we're done. I don't want to be dealing with anymore arguing, especially not now."

"It's not arguing," Tikal objected.

"Yeah, it's just friendly rivalry," added Rouge, smiling.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and sighed. "Whatever," he said as the girls giggled.

* * *

Shadow reverted to running as the hedgehogs approached the hangar. "How exactly are we gonna get in here?" he asked.

"Simple," stated Sonic. "You and I are gonna distract the guards out here with tornadoes and jump attacks while Amy and Blaze find the best hidden way into the hangar." He turned to the girls. "But if you guys can't find a hidden entrance, we gotta go in the front door, because Tails and Cream can't wait for very long."

"Easy enough," Shadow said confidently.

The guards in front noticed the approaching intruders and braced themselves with axes to their chests. Before they could attack, however, Sonic leapt at one and spun around fast enough to call on a small tornado that lifted even the bulky guard ten feet in the air. Shadow attacked in a similar manner, then spun off to jump attack a second guard as the first fell hard to the ground. The second guard brought his axe up to meet Shadow's body, but he merely bounced off and landed on his feet. Instead of jumping again, he curled up and charged full force at the guard. Caught by surprise, the guard fell over backwards, and Shadow began pummeling the brute with jump attacks until he was out cold. Shadow ceased his attack, only to be tackled to the ground by Sonic.

"Thanks," said Shadow as he looked above him at the axe that could have easily taken off his head.

"No problem." Sonic jumped into the air and homed in on the attacker. Shadow watched him fall to the ground and fall victim to numerous jump attacks. The black hedgehog rose to his feet and charged other nearby guards, trying to buy as much time as he could for Amy and Blaze. To his surprise, however, the guards he fought were incredibly slow and relied solely on their axes. Compared to his fight with Ladronella, Shadow almost yawned as he charged into the stomach of a large Malterrian. Soon, he and Sonic fought more side by side, and used the strategy of one hedgehog lifting the brutes into the air with a tornado while the other pummeled their fallen bodies with jump attacks.

This all certainly helped Amy and Blaze as they sought any small, secluded way into the hangar. If any lone guards caught them, they didn't have any trouble defending themselves. The only problem was that Ladronella was obviously alerted to their presence and had the hangar so sealed tight that almost every imaginable entrance was shut. The vents were no option either since fans spun inside them so fast to appear as if discs were blocking their potential passage. Rounding a corner, they took care of three guards quickly before looking around for any doors. There were none, but they did notice a crane above their heads. Looking around for a control panel, Blaze located one on the outer wall of the hangar. Amy leapt up to grab hold of the hook and Blaze activated the lever to raise Amy up far above her. After a few seconds, Amy waved her hand, signaling Blaze to stop.

"Do you see anything?" Blaze yelled to her from the ground.

"Yeah," replied Amy, still dangling from the crane. "There's a weak looking wall up here. I think if we can get Sonic and Shadow up here, we can all jump-attack the wall and it should crumble down."

"All right," shouted Blaze as she began to lower the crane again. But before Amy was half way down, Blaze was jerked away from the console and thrown sideways into the wall. Slowly rising to her feet, she shook her head and regained her balance. Before the guards could touch her again, she jumped into the air and prepared to home in on one of the brutes. She flew at him, but he quickly put his axe up to block her attack. Surprised by this quick move, Blaze barely had time to pull back and dodge a swing from the heavy weapon. It was then that she saw guards surrounded her on all sides, and each one with its axe raised. All she could do was put her hand up in a feeble attempt to block what was coming.

Blaze closed her eyes and braced herself. Then she heard the sound of a massive wind gust blow by her and then the thud of something on one of the guards' heads. She heard all five collapse to the metal floor beneath her. She sighed in relief; Sonic and Shadow must have found them and saved her. But then she heard a familiar, higher voice. "There. Now we're even."

Blaze opened her eyes to see neither Sonic nor Shadow, but Amy standing in front of her and the mess of guards around her. She was casually swinging her Piko Piko hammer and chuckling at her last comment.

"That was amazing!" exclaimed Blaze. She didn't think Amy could handle three guards, let own five of the brutes. "I didn't even have to see it to know what just happened." Suddenly she realized what she was insinuating about her companion. "I'm sorry I underestimated you."

"It's OK," Amy said just as casually as she stood there. "You saved my life. I returned the favor." She looked down at the guards. "I actually didn't think I could pull it off either."

Blaze saw her face as she made that admission. She had to say something to her. "You know Amy, you're not bad in a fight. I know you get left behind a lot in all of the adventures and fighting, and after seeing you here, I can't figure out why. You can handle yourself pretty well, and you saved me by yourself.

"I'm sorry that I underestimated you, and I'm sorry that Sonic doesn't appreciate you for who you are. You're one of his most loyal friends and he ignores your talents and fighting skills. But I think one day he'll learn to at least appreciate you and thank you for everything you have done for him."

Amy smiled sheepishly. "Thanks," she said. She then cocked her head upwards and pointed to where she hung from the crane before. "Anyway, we better go get Sonic and Shadow so we can get in there."

"No need to," said a voice behind them. Sonic stood there with Shadow, both of them looking a little worn out. "So you guys found something?"

"Yeah," said Blaze. "Amy found a wall up there that looks weak enough to break down."

"Oh," said Sonic. "Nice work, Amy."

Amy seemed surprised. "Thanks," she said.

"You want to show us where it is?" asked Shadow.

"Yeah," said Blaze. Amy went over to the crane and grabbed hold of the hook. Blaze activated the crane again and raised Amy up until she signaled for her to stop.

"It's up here," shouted Amy.

"Amy, can you knock it down with your hammer?" asked Shadow from the ground. "I don't think we'll all be able to get up there."

"I can try," she yelled back. She swung backward to get momentum and let herself swing back and forth until she got close enough to the wall. She swung her Piko Piko hammer as hard as she could at the wall and managed to produce a nice crack down the face of it. She did this five more times before the wall finally gave way.

She stopped herself. "OK!" she yelled. "It's down!"

"Great," said Sonic eagerly. "Let's go!"

Blaze lifted Sonic and then Shadow up to the wall where they both jumped at the new path. Before jumping for the crane herself, Blaze pushed the lever forward and ran for the crane. Just managing to grab it, she rose into the air and swung forward to grab the ledge of the path into the hangar. She almost missed, but the others pulled her up and into the corridor. Not seeing any immediate guards, they all ran down the hall in search of the main hangar.


	17. Breaking and Entering

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Nari of Mirkwood (aka my cousin Katie) who has been very helpful and has encouraged me to keep going with this story. Thanks Kate and good luck with you stories!

Another A/N: Chapters 16 and 17 were originally going to be one chapter called "The Battle of Malterr", but after seeing that combined they would have been just shy of 20 pages on Word and about 10,000 words, I thought I should probably split them up. This chapter is still the longest one so far, with over 5,700 words, so allot yourself a good chunk of time for this one.

**Chapter 17: Breaking and Entering**

Knuckles broke through what must have been the surface of the earth. He quickly looked around and saw that the cell he was in did have a prisoner, who was quite shocked to see him there. "Don't worry," Knuckles reassured the creature. "I'm going to get you out of here."

To see if he could save himself some time, Knuckles tried punching the cell bars down, but to no avail; they were joined too strong to the concrete around them. He grabbed hold of the bars and used all of his strength to pull the metal bars apart. Once he was able to open up a wide enough hole, he slipped out of the cell and made his way past several more cages. He took notice of all the Malterrians locked up and saw how their faces combined expressions of sadness, fright, and hopelessness. None of them were criminals. They were all innocent civilians who only wanted what those on Earth enjoyed every day: freedom.

Knuckles tried to keep calm as his blood began to boil. He clenched his fists as he approached the chamber door. Knowing full well that guards were behind that door, he knocked the heavy metal door down as if it were cardboard. The guards in front of him startled before jumping to their feet. But they didn't have a chance. Two of them fell immediately after a fist knocked each across the small room. Three more ran at Knuckles, but he was able to jump into the air above their heads and pound one of them with a drill drive. Once he landed, he slammed his fists to the ground, causing a tremor inside the room that knocked the guards off balance. He then made short work of them and searched them for the cell keys. Not seeing any, he went to the desk and threw drawers open in search of the keys. He got to the second column of drawers when suddenly a blow to his back knocked him into the desk. Painfully, he turned around to see a massive guard standing in front of him.

Knuckles let his eyes become slits as he stared down his opponent. Getting into position, he charged the guard fists first. But when he threw his glove out to punch him, the guard simply put his own hand out and stopped the echidna's attack with ease. He then closed his hand around Knuckles' fist and threw him into the wall on the other side of the room. Before he could get up, Knuckles was hit into the wall again by another blow. This time, he managed to leap into the air. He glided over the guard's head for a moment before driving into the ground. Now in the dirt, Knuckles moved frantically in the direction of the guard above him, hoping to hit him from below. Knowing this guard wasn't as dumb as the others, he decided to move around a little more underground to confuse his opponent. When he felt the time was right, Knuckles sped up to the surface and quickly looked around to see the guard running at him from behind. Knuckles jumped just in time, and he managed to get the guard with a drill drive. Not letting up, and reminding himself of the plight of the prisoners, Knuckles landed punch after punch into the guard's massive body until he was certain the thing was unconscious. He was breathing heavily and quickly when he looked up to see Rouge and Tikal looking at him.

"Wha..." stammered Tikal. "What are you doing?!"

Knuckles unclenched his teeth and let himself relax a little bit. He looked at the broken guard next to him, who was clearly out for quite a few hours. And he still could not feel pity for him. "Those prisoners," he said after a moment. "These monsters...They need to pay for all this."

"They will pay," Rouge assured him. "Them and my mother. But Knuckles, you can't let this stuff get to you like this."

"It won't happen again," he told them, and he sounded sincere. Regaining his composure, he asked, "Did you guys find anything yet?"

After a moment, Tikal spoke. "We were able to free one detention block. The prisoners are waiting for us to return, so we need to get these ones freed and get back there. We're going to be moving as a group from now on."

Knuckles nodded as he wiped his forehead. He looked down again at the guard and noticed the keys dangling from his belt. Taking them in his hands, he walked out to the cells and unlocked each one. He noticed the prisoners were slow to get out of their cages, but certainly looked happy to be free. Knuckles smiled as each one made their way out of their cells and moved to surround the group.

Rouge spoke to them in Malterrian and told them of their plan. The aliens looked alarmed at first, probably when they heard they would be involved and would have to fight their oppressors. But Rouge eased their fears, telling them that they were not alone, that more of them were engaging Ladronella's forces elsewhere, so it would not be so bad. Rouge promised that they would all be freed soon and could establish their own democracy. Excited, the aliens agreed to help. Rouge smiled and led everyone out of the dungeon to the next prison block.

* * *

"Whoa!" shouted Tails. He dove _The Jewel_ to the right as enemy ships suddenly flew at him head on. Apparently they were kamikaze fighters, as they hadn't even fired at the ship. Fleeing the heat of battle, Tails continued his descent towards the planet. He wasn't sure how long he could handle this, and he knew _The Jewel_ wouldn't be able to last much longer. Shots blared by the cockpit windows, and Cream yelped as the ship shook under one of those shots. Tails pulled the ship back up and swerved to the left in an attempt to get out of their firing range. He couldn't go on the offensive; he didn't have time to set up shots. There had to be at least five ships closely following him, and they weren't letting up at all. 

Suddenly, alarms began blaring in the cockpit. Tails looked quickly at the monitor and gulped. One of them had fired a heat-seeking missile, and it was rapidly approaching the ship. He tried turning back towards the enemy fighters to lead the missile back to its source, but by now it had recognized its target based on more than just heat. It came close to colliding with a Malterrian fighter when Tails flew at one of the kamikazes, but the missile managed to follow Tails as he pulled up on the controls. All the while, the missile was getting closer. Tails could have tried short bursts of speed, but those boosts would cost him his maintained speed, as the ship required that energy to keep it going at that speed. All he could do was swerve and dive and pull up.

In desperation, Tails dove at the planet. He knew this would only draw more fighters to him, but he had no choice. If he got lucky, the missile would collide with a Malterrian ship, but even if that happened, there was nothing stopping them from firing another one. Just then, as if they heard his thoughts, another missile appeared on the radar.

"Come on Sonic!" he uttered out loud. "We can't last much longer!"

The second missile found its way to the right side of the first one, and they now flew together as they homed in on _The Jewel_. Seeing no options left, Tails swerved to the left, with the missiles close behind, and engaged his opponents. If he was going to go down, he would not die running away. And he might be able to get an enemy fighter in the path of one of the missiles if they all swarmed around him. Before entering a battle he most likely could not win, Tails checked the shield levels. They had attained near maximum strength after that break of laser fire from behind, so he went in as confidently as he could.

"What are you doing?" shouted Cream. She then covered her eyes in fright as the ship flew into a group of fighters. Every one of them fired at the ship, and _The Jewel_ took several hits, but Tails was more interested in what happened behind them. He saw that the radar became silent, and the missiles were gone. A few fighters had disappeared as well.

"Are we safe?" Cream asked as she opened her eyes cautiously.

"Yeah, we're fine, for now at least," Tails assured her. "The fighters shot their own missiles by accident when they tried to get us, and some of them even got their own fighters. We got a couple hits, but we'll be all right."

"Oh, thanks Tails!" Cream squealed, and then she stood up, walked over to Tails and kissed his cheek lightly. Tails almost fell out of his seat, and his face was so hot he felt like he was in front of the thrusters on the ship. "W-w-what was that for?" he asked sheepishly.

"For saving our lives!" exclaimed Cream. "I thought we were going to die, but you got us out alive! You're my hero!"

This time Tails did fall out of his seat, which made him turn so red it rivaled Knuckles' fur. "Th-thanks," he muttered.

Regaining his composure, Tails lifted himself up to the pilot's seat again and navigated his way back into battle. But when he did, he gasped. At least thirty fighters loomed in front of him. Like angry bees, they separated and swarmed around him, determined to bring him down. And once he made his way out of the cloud of lasers and fighters, his shields and been all but destroyed and five new missiles closely pursued the ship. Tails gulped. If Sonic and the hedgehogs couldn't get fighters in the air to help him in the next few minutes, he and Cream would not survive.

* * *

Shadow leapt into the air and homed in on the guard's head. He toppled to the floor as another came running at the black hedgehog with his axe held out. Shadow stepped to the side and bowled the brute over. Before he turned around, a punch sent him flying into the wall. He rose to his feet and charged the guard, but Sonic beat him to the punch. 

"Hey!" Shadow shouted. "He was mine!"

"Relax, Shadow," said Sonic. "There's plenty more where he came from." He pointed ahead of them, where Amy was a pink blur flying around another guard. Shadow also saw behind them Blaze dodging an axe strike and leaping for the brute's head.

More guards came running at them from the front. "C'mon," said Sonic. "Amy can't take all these guys at once."

Shadow got up and followed. He moved to attack the one on the right while Sonic dealt with a couple of guards on the left. Shadow remembered that they had to keep moving forward, so he made his attacks quick and backed off of the charge-up attacks. He saw a line of them approaching him and took advantage of their positions. Jumping into the air again, he leapt from one guard to the next, knocking each to the ground as he progressed further towards the hangar. When he landed on the metal floor, he took a quick look behind him and noticed that Sonic and Amy were still wrapped up with a few guards. He couldn't even see Blaze.

"Just keep moving!" Sonic shouted above his attacks. "Get to the hangar!"

Shadow took this with a small nod that he knew Sonic couldn't see and sped off in the opposite direction. His eyes darted around, looking for any shortcuts or enemies that might pop out at him.

He turned the corner and prepared for an attack, but nothing came. Sensing something approaching, he crouched into an attack position, but still nothing. He finally rose to his feet only to get knocked to the ground by a blow from behind.

Shadow got up quickly and jumped into the air, expecting another quick attack. But he looked around and saw nothing. He landed cautiously and half-expected another attack. Suddenly, he heard the rush of something charging him from behind and dove out of the way. He felt something brush his fur as he moved out of the way of his attacker. He glanced around to see whatever this thing was, but he saw nothing but metal walls.

"Where are you?" Shadow shouted in the dark corridor. He wasn't frightened. But it wasn't the best feeling in the world when you didn't know where your attacker was. He looked around nervously, knowing his shouting wasn't going to bring this thing out of hiding.

He had enough. He wasn't going to just sit here and wait to be hit again. With a quick burst of speed from his shoes, Shadow was off down the hall again. Within a few seconds, something flew by him, so fast he couldn't see it. How could something be faster than he, the ultimate life form? He kicked his shoes into full speed and skated down the corridor as fast as he knew how. Suddenly, something flashed in front of him.

Shadow made out its shape before he was knocked over by its attack. It was much smaller than the Malterrian guards; it didn't seem to have any bulk at all. It had roughly the same shape as Shadow, but certainly had a sleek look about it. It had the same face as the guards, with a pig-like snout and fangs that protruded from its upper lip. It had horns on its head, but Shadow had a feeling the creature had no use for them. Although the thing had no bulk, it had some force, as it had been able to knock Shadow over.

Shadow stood up and dusted himself off. The thing now stood still, just staring at him. Shadow stared back into its colorless eyes. Suddenly the creature flashed into nothing, and Shadow followed it. The walls became blurs around them as they raced each other down the corridor. Shadow leapt at the creature, but he merely bounced off of it. He tried once more, but again it did nothing. He then tried to roll into it, but he was bounced away from the creature a third time. It was almost as if the thing had a force field that shielded it from attack. Whatever it was, Shadow couldn't just stop and run off in the other direction. He knew the thing would come after him again, and his pride was also getting to him.

His only hope for attack would be his tornado. But to do that he would have to wrap it around the creature, and it needed to be standing still or moving at a reasonably slow speed. He thought about this as he tried to phase out his opponent. The thing must have been planning something to, otherwise he would have attacked Shadow by then. They were rapidly approaching the end of the hall, and Shadow felt this was his time. Just before they got to the end, he stopped suddenly and jumped into the air. He quickly created a small black cyclone that engulfed the width of the corridor. He looked up into the tornado and inside the black he could make out the form of the small creature. After a few seconds, it was thrown across the corridor, and the tornado died down. Shadow rushed at the creature, which definitely looked dazed from the attack, apparently not expecting such a thing to happen. But it quickly rose to its feet and sped out of Shadow's path and back into thin air.

Mentally sighing, Shadow sped up himself. This wasn't going to be easy, but at least now he knew what he could do. He ran up alongside the alien and raced it again, now to the other end of the corridor. Realizing he had to get this done as quickly as possible, Shadow broke off from the creature and tried to plow into him with a roll attack. This time, instead of bouncing off of the thing, he went right under it as it jumped into the air and slammed its weight on Shadow.

Stunned, Shadow was slow getting up as the Malterrian sped ahead again. How could that little thing have crushed him like that? He spent no more time thinking about it and rushed ahead, determined to bring it down. He swerved to the left and right behind the creature in an attempt to confuse it before barreling forward again. The creature saw it and jumped, but so did Shadow, and he got a solid hit on the alien with a jump attack. It was knocked to the floor, and Shadow wasted no time in pounding it with relentless jump attacks. After about seven attacks, Shadow bounced off of the creature again, and he was back to square one.

He quickly synthesized a tornado that engulfed the creature, and he followed it when it was thrown down the hall. He got a few more attacks on it before he was deflected once again. This time, the alien charged Shadow head-on, and Shadow went flying into the wall. Before he could get up, he was body-slammed again by the small Malterrian. Shadow was getting tired, both physically and mentally. He was losing his patience, especially since he wasn't so sure how to defeat this new foe. He tried to keep his temper under control, as getting angry would make him sloppy, and he needed to be a smart fighter right now. He had to pick apart this thing's attack patterns and figure out the quickest way to defeat it.

He chased after the creature once more in a furious race down the hallway. Shadow swerved to the left and right again, keeping the creature constantly looking for him. Shadow went to swerve again but stopped and charged the Malterrian. Not expecting the fake-out, he was knocked to the cold floor and then fell to more jump attacks. After five of those, Shadow created another tornado and repeated his jump attacks after the creature fell again. Not letting up, Shadow ceased his jump attacks only to use his roll attack to knock the creature around further. He dished out another set of jump attacks, all the while thinking that there was no way the alien could stay conscious through all this. He started feeling bad for the thing, but then brought his emotions under control. He was almost done here.

Feeling the energy of the creature being deplete, Shadow continued to pound it with jump attacks. One more tornado sent it into the wall, and it fell to the floor unconscious. Shadow stood there for a moment, waiting for the thing to get up, but after a minute of waiting he knew the creature was down for good. He sighed a breath of relief and walked down the corridor to the door that he passed at least three times earlier. Opening it with no problem, Shadow found himself on a ledge above the floor of the hangar. He surveyed the area quickly and tried to figure out the best way down. Suddenly, shots fired out and he turned and ran along the ledge. He cursed under his breath as he jumped to another ledge, this one a little higher than his own. He didn't have time for this. Tails and Cream were going to die if they didn't get control of the hangar.

As he continued to run, he noticed the sound of bullets hitting the railing had begun to die down. He turned to see Sonic, Amy, and Blaze running on another ledge below him. Blaze jumped down into the fray and began attacking the guards. Seeing no reason in sitting up on his ledge, Shadow leapt from it and fell to the floor. He moved immediately to avoid getting shot, and had almost no problem with these slow, clumsy guards after the one in the corridors.

Sonic and Amy, however, stayed up on the catwalks and tried to find ways into the control room. Shadow and Blaze made their job easier and distracted most of the guards on the floor. Sonic reached another exit out of the hangar with Amy following close behind. They turned right once they were in the corridor and ran to a flight of stairs. Quickly ascending them, the hedgehogs were stopped in their tracks by three more guards. Sonic and Amy leaped over their heads and kept running, knowing full well they didn't have time to stop and fight. The guards could not keep pace behind them, but the hedgehogs kept running into more guards as they climbed stairs and turned corners. Finally, they approached another door, and they ran full speed at it. Of course it was locked, so they turned around and prepared to engage the guards behind them.

Stunned at this sudden change of pursuit to attack, the Malterrians were caught off-guard and were subdued with ease. Sonic and Amy searched their bodies for keys, and Amy found a pair on one of the guards' ammunition belts. She grabbed them and ran to the door.

"Wait!" cried Sonic. He activated the device around his waist, and the blue hedgehog shimmered away to be replaced by the image of a large Malterrian guard. The camouflaged Sonic nodded to Amy, who opened the door slowly and let Sonic walk in. She stayed outside to stand guard.

"Yug canhul gref zikjen," she heard a gruff voice say.

"Hik derf vedop?" came the reply of another voice.

"Rid keflod sanjet corrut spig nemrad."

Amy heard footsteps on the floor, then what sounded like a shove. "Fuid kles qureth nod!"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and Amy couldn't help but to peer out from behind the door to see Sonic, still in disguise, standing in the middle of the room and looking at the guard he had just knocked over. Several more guards ran towards Sonic, at which point he revealed his true image and leapt into the air and out of the circle of guards. Amy ran in to help as Sonic attacked the nearest guard with a jump attack to the head. He fell to the ground, but others came at Sonic swinging axes. Getting into the brawl, Amy leapt onto one of the axes as it came down to just miss Sonic. She took out her own weapon and smashed the Piko Piko Hammer into the chest of the guard. With the wind knocked out of him, he doubled over, and Amy jumped out of the way.

Meanwhile, Sonic dealt with a group of guards that pursued him around the room. Approaching the corner of the room, he leapt at the wall to his right and clung to it for a moment before jumping to the other wall. Now in position, he jumped at the guards, taking one of them down with another jump attack. Immediately, he produced a tornado and watched as the other guards were engulfed by it and sent crashing into the large consoles of the control room.

After about five minutes, all of the guards in the room were taken care of. Sonic looked out the window to see Shadow and Blaze finishing up down at the ground floor. They looked up at him and he signaled to them, at which point they jumped to the nearest ledge and made their way up to the control room.

"We need to call Rouge and tell her we're ready," Sonic said when the other two hedgehogs reached the control room.

He pulled out his communicator and activated the transmission. "Rouge, we're ready when you are."

"All right," came the bat's voice through the communicator. "We just finished up over here at the prison, so it shouldn't be long before we get some pilots over there. How are Tails and Cream doing?"

"I'm gonna contact Tails after this," he told her.

"All right," she repeated. "Rouge out."

Sonic waited for Rouge to shut her device off, then he contacted Tails. "Hey, buddy," he said into the speaker. "How are you guys doing?"

"We can't last much longer, Sonic!" Tails yelled back. "I've got probably twenty fighters after me and a handful of heat-seeking missiles. We need some help, now!"

"All right," Sonic frowned. "Just get the ship down here as quick as you can. Try to land in a good spot that's close to the hangar. Rouge and the echidnas are on their way here with pilots, so you should be all right if you come down here."

"OK," said Tails. There was a brief loss of communication. "I'll be down there in a minute."

"Be careful," Sonic warned him as he shut off his communicator. He turned to his friends. "Well, I guess there's nothing left to do now but wait."

* * *

"All right!" Rouge shouted to her audience of newly-freed Malterrians. She was still speaking in the native Malterrian language. "Everyone knows the plan. Pilots are coming with us to the hangar, while the others travel to Desordia and free the city from the scourge of Ladronella's forces. It is time for Malterr to take back its freedom! We must fight now or die! The time for liberty and happiness is upon us, but it cannot be gained through negotiations. The tensions have existed for decades, and now those tensions wills how themselves in the civil war that is approaching. You must fight with every last drop of blood inside you and bring peace and prosperity to Malterr!" 

The crowd of ex-prisoners shouted in approval. Having long shed their timidity and fright, they now had the mindset of the army they were about to become. With their new freedom, they marched off to battle. A group of roughly 100 Malterrians marched towards their capital, while about twenty followed Rouge, Knuckles, and Tikal back to the hangar.

"Wow," said Knuckles. "Since when were you so good with a crowd?"

Rouge shrugged. "I think I finally let out my own emotions," she said simply. "These people have suffered under my mother's oppressive rule for thirty years. Now we're giving them hope for a brighter future where they can live like everyone on Earth. It makes me feel really good that I'm finally breaking my mother's control over everything."

Tikal chuckled. "You certainly have changed, Rouge," she said. "Once upon a time you were a ruthless jewel thief who was only concerned about your own profit. Now look at you; leading a group of freedom fighters off to battle."

Rouge raised her eyebrow at her. "Don't get used to it," she said, trying to sound like her old, tougher self. "I may be a freedom fighter here, but on Earth I'm always gonna be after jewels. That will never change."

"I spoke to soon," Tikal muttered. She couldn't help but laugh though. Rouge had changed, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Her friends were rubbing off on her, and the whole experience with her mother was undoubtedly showing her the power of being corrupted by greed and certainly turning her off of obsessing over jewels.

Tikal, now proud to call Rouge one of her friends, marched alongside her and Knuckles towards the hangar, ready to take on Ladronella and all she could throw at them.

* * *

Cream felt _The Jewel_ jolt slightly as it entered the atmosphere of Malterr. Looking out the cockpit window, she could see the brown surface looming closer to the ship, and Tails began to pull up slightly on the ship. The alarms were still buzzing on the radar, and the group of missiles was close behind them, along with several Malterrian fighters who would not repeat their mistake and shoot one of their own missiles. Cream wasn't sure just how they were going to land the ship without it getting destroyed, but she knew if anyone could do it, it would be Tails. 

The ship swerved left and drew closer to the surface. Tails flew towards some peaks of low mountains and navigated the ship very carefully through the jagged terrain. He circled a few of the peaks cautiously but tightly and quickly, trying to lose some missiles or possibly get some of them to collide. After circling one peak, he moved to circle the next with a quick burst of speed to fly in a figure-eight path. The speed of the turn actually forced some of the rear missiles to circle around the other side of the peak, and when Tails straightened out again, two of the missiles did collide. The explosion left only three missiles, meaning Tails would have to lose those as well before landing somewhere.

Suddenly Tails thought of something. "Hey Cream," he said. "Do we have any spare parts?"

"Um," said Cream. "Let me check." She brought up the inventory on the co-pilot's screen and accessed the spare parts list. "Yes," she said finally. "We have a spare booster, another gun, and a couple of engine parts. Why, do we need to replace something now? Because now's not a good time to—"

"No, I mean so we can jettison them and fool the missiles. They've recognized the ship and all of its parts, so if we can shed some spare parts, the missiles will go for them."

"Oh, OK," said Cream. "Yes, I can release them whenever you're ready."

"All right," said Tails. Five seconds later he said, "Release the spare booster!"

Cream hit the button, and the hatch door opened and released the spare booster out the back. One of the missiles picked it up and destroyed it, leaving just two missiles chasing after The Jewel.

Tails tried to lock onto the hangar's coordinates. It was a couple of miles to the northwest, so they had time to ditch the last two missiles. He swerved in the direction of the hangar and gave Cream the order to release the spare gun once the ship (and the missiles) straightened out. Again, one missile continued to follow the ship while the other went for the gun. Tails and Cream saw the explosion on the radar as the missile disappeared. Only one more to go.

Suddenly something hit the ship. Immediately fearing that the last missile finally caught up to The Jewel, Tails expected the ship to be half destroyed and begin plummeting to the surface. But he was relieved to see that it was just a laser shot from his left. He forgot that he also had enemy fighters behind him. But then he remembered that they could just fire more heat-seekers, so he decided to take a chance and go after his attacker. Turning the ship around to face his opponent, he caught it by surprise and fired at it. Unable to escape in time, the Malterrian fighter was hit and fell to the ground, where it exploded.

Tails immediately resumed his course towards the hangar, and engaged top speed. He could begin to make out the hangar approaching them from the horizon. He told Cream to release the engine parts, and she did, but nothing happened. The rear hatch didn't open on the screen. Cream tried again, but still nothing happened. With the hangar getting closer, Tails shot out of his chair and ran out of the cockpit. Cream moved to the pilot's chair and eyed the controls. She wasn't sure if she could fly this ship, but she would try. She just let it run its course for now.

Tails ran down to the spare parts bay door and unlocked it. They were in the atmosphere, so he didn't have to worry about oxygen. He looked at the hatch in the back of the small room and saw a small engine part lodged between the door and the wall. He tried to push it out, and when that didn't work, he tried to pull it towards him. That accomplished nothing, so he tried kicking at the hatch door as hard as he could. It budged a little bit, so he tried again. It moved a little bit more, so he kept going at the door with his boot.

"Tails please hurry!" came Cream's voice through the speaker in the room. "We'll be at the hangar in thirty seconds!"

Tails looked around quickly for any parts he could throw at the door. He found a decent-sized engine part and hoisted it to his chest. Winding it back, he threw it at the door with all his might, then quickly grabbed onto the doorway of the bay as the hatch door opened. He saw the missile within a few feet from the bay. He kicked one of the engine parts towards the opening and watched it fly into the missile, effectively exploding it. The hatch door closed, and he returned to the cockpit.

"We're good," Tails sighed when he walked in. Cream vacated the pilot's seat and let Tails initiate the landing sequence as the hangar doors opened below them. Cream gave him one more kiss on the cheek, leaving Tails looking more red than ever as _The Jewel_ descended safely into the hangar.

A/N: Please REVIEW!!! I know there are people other than my cousin who are reading this story, and while I greatly appreciate her reviews, she is the only reader who is continuously reviewing my chapters. I want feedback so I can make my story better (even though I'm approaching the end, it can still be tweaked). If you loved this chapter-or any other chapters for that matter-tell me! If you hated it, tell me why! Thanks.


	18. The Storm

**Chapter 18: ****The Storm**

Gordek stood atop the brown hill that overlooked the urban city of Desordia. The city had not changed much in thirty years. A few additional skyscrapers and smaller buildings had been added, and some had been demolished, but the overall appearance of the city from his point of observation reminded him of the city that he and his people had built three decades ago.

There was no denying, though, how much more run-down the city looked. Older buildings, if they hadn't been destroyed yet, were slowly decaying like the temples of an abandoned civilization. There was no open flow of traffic in the streets or on the sidewalks, with only a handful of vendors sprinkled across the city. Gordek could just make out the old medical clinic, which was originally built to house only 100 patients; it now housed a maximum of 25, and even then most of the rooms were unoccupied. He would have liked to believe that people were healthier, but he was no fool.

He snorted at his thoughts and turned to the crowd behind him. Looking around, he could read the same expression on everyone's face: a mixture of ambition and fear. They were all soldiers about to take back their long-lost home, and yet many of them were probably going to die trying. Gordek knew it was a worthy cause, of course, but he himself couldn't push back his own anxieties. This would certainly test all of his nerve and strength. If he did not meet his foes with his absolute best, his city, his people, and his world will have already been lost.

Instinctively, Gordek took one slow step forward. His hairy foot came down to touch the ground, and he wanted for the guards in the city to feel that tremor in the earth. He wanted them to know that he and his army were coming today. They were coming now, at this minute. Gordek took another step forward, and then another, and another….

His army marched in pace behind him. As they descended the hill, their march became a walk, and the walk became a faster walk, and that became a jog, and that finally became a run down the hill. Gordek let out a yell that was heard a half mile away in Desordia, and his troops mimicked him. Their combined cry drew the attention of the guards in the city, who now turned to face the source of the noise. They marched to the main street of the city and then to the edge that faced the approaching army. The guards had been ready for this rebellion—they were informed of a mass jailbreak that happened less than an hour ago. With axes and guns held at the ready, they formed a wall of beasts in front of the city, waiting to stop the ex-prisoners in their tracks.

But the new army was not without weapons. They managed to take most of the armory's contents from the prison so that each fighter had at least one gun, some getting an arrow as well. The group ran forward, not phased by the size or appearance of the guards. They had been living in fear of them for too long. Now, it was time to leave that all behind.

"Fire!" shouted Gordek in the Malterrian dialect. At his command, arrows began flying over his head, piercing the thin air above. Many made good on their targets as most of the guards' front line fell to the dirt. They retaliated quickly, producing firearms that mowed down the charging front line of rebels. Gordek, who was saved at the last second my one of his comrades, tried to keep a straight face and let the loss of his soldier and friend pass. He had to stay strong for his people. The guards would not get to him.

The rebel group began firing their own guns, which actually forced the guards back into the city. They were fewer in number, so they were fighting as smart as they could: let the pathetic rebels into the city, and then squash them when they were weak.

Bullets and lasers marked buildings as Gordek's army moved into the city. He gave a signal to one group who moved into an unoccupied building to establish a fortress and sanctuary for the group. Some were killed before they could take safe haven inside the building's walls, but most of the troops managed to get inside. While they set up a base, the rest of the army continued to force the guards back down city blocks. As more and more guards fell, Gordek deemed it safe for another group to secure an occupied building. It was a local commune of Malterrians who, as punishment for treason, were forced to work in a small sweatshop for no pay and a meager existence on cornmeal given to them every day.

Of course there were guards inside the building, so it was not taken immediately. But there weren't many patrolling the halls inside it, and with their weapons, the rebels broke the control the guards had of the building and freed the workers. As they had been doing, the rebels took the ammunition from the slain guards and distributed it. The now freed workers were given a similar speech heard by the troops hours ago, and after some much needed nourishment, joined the troops in battle.

The guards, seeing their numbers drop faster than they expected, signaled for other guards in the buildings to fill their ranks. They stopped their retreat and fired with a new rage. Bullets pierced the crowd of rebels as they struggled to keep their momentum. But they were not going to risk losing too many troops, so Gordek gave an order to pull back. Firing as they backpedaled, the rebels dispersed when they backed up to another block. Fighting the guards would not work head-on, so they ran for the buildings and shadows and prepared to fight guerilla warfare.

The guards managed to pick off several of the rebels as they ran for cover behind buildings and inside tenements and communes. With the ex-prisoners effectively retreating, the guards strode confidently throughout the city determined to kill each and every Malterrian (excluding their own species) they found, regardless of whether or not they participated in the rebellion. It was time to eliminate these worms once and for all.

Those worms, however, were not going to die without a fight. This was their one and only chance of freedom, and they would do anything to take it back. From windows and rooftops, the rebels opened fire on unsuspecting guards. The guards then took positions of their own throughout the city, and all of Desordia became a battlefield. Explosives were discovered by rebels and brought out by guards, so now bombs and grenades went off without warning in midair or in the streets and buildings. Whole sides of buildings were blown away, and streets had craters and even deep holes. Officers on both sides deemed it unsafe to do battle in the streets anymore, so the battle became purely building to building. It became a contest, a race for control of the most skyscrapers.

Gordek made it his mission to take back the medical clinic so they could safely heal wounded troops. He took a squad of fifteen rebels with him and snuck out the back door of the commune they took safety in. One troop peered around the side of the building and signaled the coast was clear, so the group advanced to the street. As soon as their feet touched the street, shots rang out to their left, and they ran behind the building in front of them. One rebel was shot down, but Gordek tried to ignore it as they continued moving. They had to take the clinic so that they could heal his troops before they got to that point.

The clinic, which was still four blocks down, seemed much farther as Gordek's group slowly trekked to the edge of the next building. Suddenly, an explosion appeared in front of them, and three more troops were killed, Gordek almost one of them. As he looked past their dismembered and bloodied bodies, he didn't see enemy troops in front of him. Then he realized it was the guards in the building down the street to the left. They must have heard from the guards in the previous building about the group, so they were trying to stop them or kill them with explosives. Before Gordek could think another thought, another explosion rocked the corner of the building, almost killing another of his rebels. Deciding it the best time to go now, he led his troops at full speed across the street, and more shots rang out. Two more in his group were killed as they made it to the next building.

They repeated this for the next three blocks, and actually made it to the clinic with six men left. The guards on duty were stationed elsewhere to help quell the rebellion, so it was relatively easy getting in. They barged into the lobby and pointed their guns at the office clerk.

"Take us to your superior!" Gordek demanded. "This clinic is our's now."

The clerk grimaced before pulling out a gun. Gordek quickly shot him and moved to the door. The group swarmed into the office and took control of the mainframes. Then they opened the door to the clinic manager's office and shot him outright. Gordek then gave orders to spread out and take each room. He reminded them not to hesitate in killing these beasts, that they were all responsible for their suffering. But before they could do that, a loud explosion ran outside the clinic, and it sounded like a hole was blown through the lobby.

Gordek led his troops out to take a look. They saw the hole in the wall, and they went outside to stop the guards from doing it again. They found their attackers actually running toward them in the street. Gordek charged forward with his troops, firing his weapon the whole time. Suddenly, the guards began firing, and Gordek felt the bullet pierce his stomach as he fell forward to the ground. He could hear his troops cry out for their fallen commander as they shot everything they had at the charging guards. Once they were defeated, the troops gathered around Gordek, who was still alive.

"Leave me…" he managed to say. "I…am not worth…your mission…"

"Commander!" said the closest one. "The clinic is so close. We can save you!"

But Gordek was already fading into the light. "Long…live…our…freedom…."

His head collapsed silently and lay lifeless on the street. Saddened at their sudden loss, the group stayed for a moment to recognize Gordek, their commander and friend, before leaving him to go fulfill his mission and retake the clinic.

_

* * *

The Jewel_ sank as quickly as Tails could manage before the hangar's ceiling slid shut. The blasts from the Malterrian fighters could be heard beating on the large metal doors as the ships passed over them. Rouge had already sent the newly-freed pilots to board their ships, and she now gave the signal to launch into attack. The heroes could see on the monitors all twenty-two ships take off and leave the hangar to engage their enemies. Within moments, Tails and Cream walked into the control room to join the others. 

"So are we ready to go?" asked Tails. He looked exhausted but eager after his mission in space.

Sonic looked around at the others for approval. They all nodded that they were ready and willing, so Sonic turned back to Tails. "I think we've been ready for this for weeks," he said eagerly. He turned to the others again. "All right guys. Let's go get that jewel thief and teach her what happens when you mess with Earth!"

They all shouted in agreement and pumped their fists as Sonic led them out of the hangar control room.

* * *

The guard knocked before entering Ladronella's private office. Walking in at a fast pace, he stopped suddenly when Ladronella looked up at him. Her eyes then darted to the paper in his hand. 

"I'll take that," she said as she did so. Placing it down on her desk, Ladronella sat down to study it intensely. Her eyes grew thinner as they scrolled down the report. After a few minutes, she looked back up at her officer of security.

"So what are you planning to do about this?" she demanded. Before he could answer, she continued. "You better have something planned. You wouldn't want to end up like the space traffic controller…."

"Don't worry, Mistress," the officer said gruffly. "This rebellion is being squashed as we speak. Within hours, we will have executed all of the escaped prisoners who are still alive. They will learn their place."

"Perhaps you should concern yourself more with my daughter and her friends," she ordered in the form of a suggestion. "With them running loose, all of our prisons and cities are at risk of rebellion."

"We have sent out some of our finest troops, Mistress. Our best pilots are in the air consumed in dogfights with freed rebel pilots, we have nearly one hundred of our troops stationed and fighting an army of rebels in Desordia, and two of our top fighters have already been disposed of by two of the Earthlings, one in the prison and one in the hangar. I am doing everything in my power to contain them, but the Earthlings have proven difficult to stop."

Ladronella was obviously impatient. "Bring the pilots back down. They're of no use up there. Get more troops over to Desordia and crush that uprising before it spreads to other cities. And tighten security here at the palace with everything we have. Their next move will be a strike here."

"With all due respect, Mistress, our loss of control of the hangar makes it difficult to return the pilots to Malterr. We could try to retake it, but then we would have to stretch our troops here and in Desordia even thinner than they already are. Right now, I think—"

"I think you had better listen to _me_!" Ladronella shouted suddenly. Stopping immediately, the officer apologized to his mistress. "I know full well what they are planning and the threat they pose. I will not underestimate them. But who is left guarding the hangar? Escaped prisoners?"

"I believe so, Mistress."

"Well then it shouldn't be too hard to retake it, then, should it?"

"It should not."

"Take what troops are available to the hangar to stall Rouge and her friends. They most likely won't go back for it, but they might have of a few of them guarding it while the rest come here. We haven't lost yet, officer. And we will not lose. I will not lose. Not after fifty years."

The officer saluted and walked out of the office. Ladronella turned to her window and began to think. Only hours ago, everything was falling into place for her. She had all but one jewel to complete her collection. She was ready to make her daughter a prisoner of Malterr and execute her friends. She was so close to having the most potential wealth in the universe. And it was all being taken right out from underneath her. She had given Rouge too much leeway, too much to work with. Now Ladronella faced the prospect of maybe having to flee her palace with what jewels she had just to keep what was hers already. She thought for a moment and decided that it would be arrogant and stupid to stay on Malterr if she could lose everything. She would leave the planet for a new one, but certainly not to establish dictatorial rule over one. She would have to hide out again and…start all over. She cringed at the thought but then reminded herself that at least she would have all those magnificent jewels. She could at least smile at that. But she could not forget all of the trouble her daughter had caused her, and Ladronella would make her pay for that. One day.

Suddenly, alarms began ringing in her office. She quickly grabbed her communicator, which was receiving a transmission from the security officer whom she had just spoken with. "Mistress," he said, a sound of failure in his voice. She knew what he was going to tell her before he even said it. "They're here."

* * *

The four hedgehogs led the way through the hole in the outer wall punched out by the combined strength of Knuckles and Tikal. Sprinting as fast as they could while allowing the others to keep pace, Sonic, Shadow, Amy, and Blaze blurred down the path leading to the heavily guarded front door of Ladronella's palace. Knuckles, Rouge, Tikal, Tails, and Cream kept a decent pace behind them as they eyed the front door. 

"Guys, be extremely careful around here!" Rouge shouted so everyone could hear. "Ladronella wants us all dead, and she'll do anything to make sure that we end up that way!"

Before the hedgehogs could reach the stairs, ten guards came down to stop them. The four hedgehogs jumped into the air, but instead of attacking, had to jump out of the way of enormous axes. And even when they touched the ground, they had to jump again out of the way of more attacks. Reduced to dodging swinging axes, the hedgehogs nevertheless provided nice distractions as the rest of the group caught up to the fight. Rouge went in first and slid under an axe attack to kick one of the guards into the air.

"Shadow!" she shouted to the hedgehog in position for attack. "That one's your's!"

"Got it!" he yelled back, jumping into the air after the guard. He knocked it out of the air with a jumping attack, but he could not follow through with a ground attack as the guard easily stood up and got ready to knock Shadow down.

As Shadow did battle with his opponent, Blaze was running circles around her's. The guard eventually caught on and brought his axe downward like a hammer, and Blaze stopped just in time before being knocked away by the guard's powerful punch. It then produced a gun and began shooting at her. Moving quickly, she ran in a zig-zag formation at her attacker. With bullets just missing her and falling to her feet, Blaze leapt into the air and used her own jump attack to knock the guard over.

More and more of the guards began using their guns, obviously frustrated that their axes were not getting them anything. But with axes down, the heroes were able to move around more freely and began taking advantage of their inherent speed. They tried bringing their respective opponents away from each other to widen the battlefield and lessen the risk of one of their friends being shot by their opponent.

Taking his battle up the stairs, Sonic was a blue blur around his attacker. Frustrated all over again, the guard quickly put his gun away and swung his axe to meet Sonic in mid-stride. It met Sonic—under his feet. He prepared to jump off the axe and at his attacker's head, but the guard thought quickly and threw Sonic over his head from his axe. But then he made the mistake of trying to get his gun out to shoot Sonic out of the sky. While he was still putting his axe on his back, Sonic came down like a rock on the guard's head. Dazed, the guard was now vulnerable, and Sonic followed up his attack with repeated jump attacks. The guard tried in vain to get up, and he was knocked down every time by another jump attack to the head. Sonic delivered the final blow that knocked his attacker out cold.

But he wasted no time in celebrating. Cream was having trouble with her guard, having little fighting experience with the beasts. While she dodged axe swings and gun shots in the air, Sonic came up behind the brute and knocked him flat on his face with a roll attack. He then helped her keep the guard there for a while with a few jump attacks. With two down and still eight to go, Sonic looked around. He noticed the one free guard was roaming from battle to battle, trying to aid his comrades in bringing the heroes down.

Sonic pursued the guard, but the creature was able to spot Sonic chasing him and whipped his gun around to fire at the blue hedgehog. Jumping to the left, Sonic felt something suddenly rip through the side of his right arm, and he cried out in pain as he fell to the dirt clutching his wound. Aiming his killing shot, the guard pulled the trigger just as Cream flew at the gun, knocking it away from its aim. Stunned, the guard was then knocked forward by a jump attack. Shadow stood victorious over the guard.

"I finished with my mine," he said with confident smile. "Thought you could use some help."

Cream thanked him and rushed off to help Amy, and Sonic just smiled as he winced at his wound. "You're not trying to say you're better than me, are you?" he laughed.

"Sometimes you are so pathetic," Shadow chuckled as he helped Sonic to his feet. "We can settle old scores after this thing's over. Right now you should just sit out and let us finish. You're no good right now."

"Gee, thanks Shadow," Sonic replied sarcastically as he put the pressure of his hand on his wound and went to sit in a safe spot over by the outer wall. Shadow rolled his eyes and rushed back into battle.

Tails was having trouble of his own. His guard would not let up with the axe, and Tails was getting tired as he repeatedly jumped and dodged and hovered over his opponent. If only he had his machines, he could have beaten this guy minutes ago, but for now he would have to fight with his own power, which he did not have too much of. He tried punching and kicking, and when he was lucky enough to get a hit, it didn't seem to phase the brute very much at all.

Tails then noticed Shadow running back into the fray without his own opponent. "Shadow!" he shouted. "Can you help me out over here?"

Shadow laughed mentally as he rushed to help the fox. It seemed like he was helping everyone out. But then again, he was the ultimate life form, so should he expect nothing less?

Before he could attack the thing, however, it noticed him and swung his axe in Shadow's direction. Forced to break away, Shadow rolled out of the way and lost his momentum. The guard swung at him again, this time managing to clip off one of Shadow's red and black quills. He stood up, looking furious, and charged the guard with unbelievable speed. A blow to his stomach sent the guard all the way to the outer wall, where he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Don't say anything!" Shadow hissed at Tails, who was struggling not to laugh at Shadow's new hair-do.

Meanwhile, Knuckles had finished with his opponent after he used his hammer punch to knock the guard off balance and a powerful punch that knocked him into the dirt. Knuckles then moved to help Blaze, who was struggling to keep her opponent down. Her jump attacks seemed weaker than Sonic's and Shadow's, so Knuckles called her over and suggested something else. When the guard charged at them, Knuckles hoisted Blaze in the air and spun her around by her ankles. When the guard got close enough, the echidna released the purple hedgehog and she flew like a bullet at her attacker. This, of course, kept him down and out.

"Thanks," she said quickly before running over to help Rouge with her own beast. Knuckles looked around to see just three left. Amy and Cream were fighting one, Blaze and Rouge were taking care of another one, and Tikal had Tails help with her opponent. Knuckles ran to help Amy and Cream while Shadow rushed towards Tikal's enemy. With their combined efforts, the heroes managed to bring down the last three guards.

Rouge told everyone to book it to the palace door before they were challenged by more guards. They all ran full speed to the door, which Rouge kicked over with relative ease. When the door crashed to the floor, they were all stunned to see a white bat standing on the other side of the foyer of the palace.

Before any of them could make a move towards Ladronella, they suddenly lost the feel of the floor under their shoes, and they all cried out as they fell into darkness.

But Rouge managed to catch the floor before it closed up again. After all, she was the only one that could actually fly up.

"I'll get Ladronella!" she shouted to the black below her, hoping they could hear her. "You guys find the jewels and get them out of here!"

She jumped up to land on the floor, but kept her wings spread for anymore traps. "I'm afraid your friends won't be getting anything," said an evil voice over what must have been an intercom. "In fact, you won't ever see them again."

Suddenly very worried, Rouge stomped down on the door with all her strength. "You think that will open it?" Ladronella's voice laughed again. "Your feeble strength?"

"You don't want them!" shouted Rouge over her mother's laughter. She began walking down the corridor that led to the elevator. It was the only way out of the foyer, so she had to step inside.

"Well, at first I didn't," Ladronella continued in the elevator. "But you changed that. You got them involved, and now they will suffer because of you."

"What are you going to do to them?" shouted Rouge, not expecting her mother to answer.

"It won't matter," replied Ladronella. "All that you'll know is that they all died because of you!"

Rouge stomped again to see if she could get to the lower levels instead of going up. But the strength of the floor proved too strong. "I would stop trying that if I were you," came Ladronella's taunting voice.

"Why don't you just kill me?" asked Rouge. "That's what you want, isn't it?"

"You wish it were that simple. No, I can't just kill you. That wouldn't satisfy me enough. I want to defeat you. I want to break you down and make you suffer so much you will plead for death. You have no idea how much I want to grant that to you right now, but I'll wait for you to make that plea."

The elevator door slid open, and Rouge dove out expecting another trap. Nothing came.

"You won't win," Rouge assured her mother. "Pretty soon we'll all be leaving this rock behind, and you'll be burning in Hell."

Oddly enough, there was no response. Puzzled, Rouge nevertheless continued down the hallway. She took note that, for a palace, it wasn't overly glamorous. There were pillars and marble floors and polished walls, but Ladronella certainly didn't show off the wealth and power she possessed. This actually surprised Rouge; her mother seemed to love flaunting her possessions. But then again, Ladronella was very business-minded and probably didn't care so much about outer appearance as efficiency as a place of authority. Rouge spent little time admiring her surroundings as she tread cautiously through the marble corridors of The Joyamora Palace.

Ladronella sat in the seclusion of her private office plotting her next move. While she kept her daughter busy, she tried to collect her thoughts together and devise a safe plan for fleeing Malterr, at least for the time being. She would need to make it down to the treasury, where all of her precious jewels lay hidden and safe. Not at all worried that Rouge's friends were actually on the same level as the treasury, she contemplated using the secret entrance out of her office to get out to the public office, and from there she could make her way past the throne room and to the lower levels. But then again, it might be quicker to leave her private office through the main door and sneak her way down to the treasury and still make it past Rouge. Her friends were in the dungeons right now, which were near pitch black and almost impossible to navigate, unless you had the proper equipment. They would never find the treasury, let alone break into it. Yes, her plan was going to work perfectly. All she had to do was go and get the jewels and—

"I'm afraid you won't be getting anything," said a voice that startled Ladronella out of her thoughts. To her horror, there stood Rouge in her open doorway, grinning and looking confident as ever. "In fact, you won't ever see them again."


	19. Stealing From a Thief

A/N: Thanks to Nari and Kal0-and-Summer for the reviews. Hopefully I'll be adding more people to this list soon...Anyway, here's the next chapter.

**Chapter 19: Stealing From a Thief**

Ladronella stood up slowly. Searching frantically for a remark, she could not find one as her daughter stood in the entrance to her private office. Ladronella was in complete shock; somehow Rouge had navigated her palace and found Ladronella's private headquarters. If she knew that much, she would have no trouble finding Ladronella anywhere in the palace.

Ladronella tried her best at a smirk, but her mouth twitched back to a frown. She started to sweat, but kept herself under control. Losing her cool now would jeopardize everything she had ever worked for.

"Well, you're smarter than I thought," Ladronella surrendered to Rouge. "Well done. But you won't stop me."

The smirk never left Rouge's lips. "I already have," she said casually.

Ladronella's slight panic broke at this statement. "Foolish little girl," she said, trying to condescend Rouge and gain her own confidence back at the same time. "You've only seen a small fraction of what I'm capable of. Soon, I'll have the Amashi jewel, and you and your miserable friends will be dead."

Rouge laughed out loud. "Ha! It's over, Ladronella! Your prisoners are free and the rebellion is spreading across the planet. Even now, I'm hearing that Desordia is all but liberated. You've lost control of your own hangar. We've gotten to your palace, and right now my friends are getting through the dungeons to the treasury. And you…you have nowhere left to run."

Ladronella responded by shaking her head in mock pity. "Haven't you learned by now?" she asked. "I am never out of options."

Suddenly, she pounded her desk, and a glass capsule closed around her. From inside the impenetrable glass, Ladronella winked at Rouge. "Goodbye, my daughter."

Rouge dove at the capsule, but by that time it had fallen beneath the floor. She wasted no time in watching it as she jumped quickly over the vanishing hole and drill kicked her way into the darkness after her mother.

* * *

"Ow!" cried Sonic. "Knuckles, watch it with those gloves!" 

"Sorry," came Knuckles' voice. "I can't see a thing down here."

"Where are we?" Amy's voice rang out in the darkness.

"This must be the dungeons," concluded Tails. "That trap door up in the foyer was supposed to keep us out of Ladronella's way. What better place than the basement?"

"Yeah, but didn't Rouge say the vaults were down here?" asked Tikal.

"I wonder what happened to her," said Knuckles. "I hope she's all right."

"Eh, she'll be fine," assured Sonic. "She can take care of herself."

"Sonic," said Shadow. "You don't know Ladronella. I know Rouge is capable of going on alone, but her mother is a wicked creature. She won't hesitate to make Rouge suffer to death any way possible."

"Well, the only way we can help anyone—or do any harm to Ladronella—is to get moving," said Blaze. "If the treasury is down here, maybe we can find it."

The others nodded as if they could see each other, and then tried to feel for walls. Cream found one side, and Blaze found the other. Since Knuckles and Tikal were the most experienced in navigating dark tunnels, they led the way through the black. They kept their voices running or made audible movements constantly to keep the others behind them. They trudged on for a few minutes and saw no source of light for a while. Their eyes began adjusting to the dark, and soon they could begin to make out faint outlines of each other. But it never got better than that.

"How do we know if we're going in the right direction?" asked Amy to no one in particular.

"Well, we don't actually," admitted Knuckles. "But we have to keep moving, and splitting up could be dangerous down here."

He might have said something else, but his foot kicked against something solid as it went forward to step down. Putting his glove out in front of him, he felt the gritty stone wall in front of him. "Check the sides," he told the others. "This may branch off into two new corridors."

Tikal moved to the right, while Sonic checked the left side. When they could both continue walking, they told the others, and the group tried to devise a solution. After a moment, it was decided that Sonic, Tikal, Tails, and Amy venture off to the left corridor, and Knuckles, Shadow, Blaze, and Cream take the right. The group went over their plans before dividing.

"I hope these two paths cross again somewhere," said Tails.

"I would doubt it," replied Tikal. "Something tells me there's just a huge network of paths running under here, probably as secret escape routes or storage areas."

"Or to confuse unwanted intruders," Sonic pointed out.

The others agreed as they continued their trek, hoping to come across a source of light, if not the treasury, sometime soon.

* * *

The small team of medics rushed another soldier into the emergency section of the medical clinic. A bullet had pierced his back, and it was not likely he was going to make it. While nearly a hundred troops continued to defend current posts and take control of more, what medical experts there were available were working in the clinic to try and save the soldiers that were coming in far too often. The doctors and medical staff did not need to see reports to know that they were losing this war. 

The top commanders were trying to keep morale up, but soldiers knew better as they watched their comrades die right next to them. The bombs were hurting the rebels more than helping, as the guards were better equipped and trained and had discovered more quantities of them. Still, despite their losses, the rebels continued to fight. They would wage war until there were none of them left to wage it. They were fighting for their lives.

Progress was made in freeing more potential soldiers. Some were sent off in groups to nearby cities to spread the war out and force the guards to spread their own forces. If the rebels could start up new fronts, they could slowly take control of more cities and establish firmer bases. But they had to make an impact, unlike the guards, who were just defending their control. So the rebels did not hesitate in attacking guards head-on.

Nearby the clinic, a bomb exploded and rocked the earth beneath it. More rebels were called back to defend the clinic, arguably their most valued possession in the battle thus far. They swarmed the streets and sunk into the alleys as they tossed bombs and fired bullets and arrows through windows and around building corners. Desperately, the rebels advanced on their enemies and brought all of their force with them. Surprised, the guards in the streets slowly backed away, but did not halt their fire. Rebels went down, and guards fell from windows above. The streets were littered with corpses and dying soldiers. Limbs scattered the ground, some with blood still running out the open ends like a forgotten faucet left running. Empty firearms and bullets were not uncommon either. The city of Desordia would most likely not survive this war.

Without warning, guards began filing out of surrounding buildings. Not fazed by the rebels' attacks, they continued to march forward, even as front guards toppled over and died. They fired their own weapons and forced the rebels to give more ground. Before they knew it, the rebels backed into their clinic, and they were still retreating.

Realizing they could go nowhere, the rebels let everything loose. Firing every last bullet in their possession, they let their ultimate rage run free. But the guards, stone-faced, did not retreat. In fact, they continued to advance, if not a little more conservatively. From behind building corners and through windows above them, the rebels fell to bombs and bullets and all sides. Backed against the wall, they made their last seconds of life worthwhile and killed as many guards as they could. But it wasn't enough.

Even from their distance and situation, the rebels could see the guards smirking as they continued to slowly advance. The rebels knew they were finished, but they couldn't stop now. Reaching for their last bomb, a rebel nearly activated it when something exploded near the group of guards.

It was a bomb from above. Quickly glancing at the buildings above them, the rebels saw none of their comrades. Then, another bomb fell from the sky and forced the guards to give more ground. Looking up, one of them pointed to the sky. The rebels leaned their heads back and their eyes lit up.

A Malterrian pilot was circling the block and dropping bombs on the guards. The rebels could see more ships coming towards them. With newfound hope, the rebels sprinted forward and fired at the stunned guards. Pursued by ships in the air and troops on the ground, the guards turned and ran as they tried in vain to jump out of the way of missiles from the air. Before the group even made it to the next block, they were all wiped out.

Deeming it now safe to land, the first ship skidded to a halt nearby. The pilot jumped out and greeted his comrades. "Good work," he told them. "We were sent here to assist you since the Mistress' air forces were called back to the surface. We will cover you from the sky as you advance throughout the city. We can't guarantee coverage everywhere, as enemy fighters might soon be launched back into the air to combat us, but we will do everything we can to help you win this battle."

The group continued to smile as they ran back to the clinic and healed themselves. With the aid of the pilots, rebel troops marched confidently into the enemy-controlled areas of Desordia and forced them to surrender more ground. More pilots arrived, and no enemy fighters came, so it soon became an easy battle for the rebels, who took control of Desordia with the conquest of the city center nearly an hour later. The battle of Desordia had been won. As they began to rid the city of anymore guards, the troops established a base in the city center and moved out to continue the battle of Malterr.

* * *

Rouge had no idea where this escape path was taking her, but she did not let that distract her from her focus on her mother's capsule below her. Using her drill kick, Rouge was able to eventually reach the top of it, and clung to it as it continued to descend. Suddenly, it slowed to a stop, and Rouge heard the hatch open beneath her. Realizing she had only seconds, she jumped as high as she ever had and brought her boot down with a force she didn't know she had, and she was able to penetrate the metal top of the capsule. Falling into it, she quickly fell out of it just as it slid shut behind her. Before she got up, however, she was kicked right back at the closed capsule. 

Reacting quickly, she slid out of the way of Ladronella's next attack and then flew forward at her. Ladronella jumped into the air, flipped over backwards, and landed several feet away from Rouge. The room they were in appeared to be some sort of connecting room to a nearby hallway that most likely led to Ladronella's escape paths.

"You won't get away," Rouge vowed before becoming airborne.

Ladronella laughed and met her daughter in the air. Both stretched their boot out to meet the other's face, and they were both sent flying back to the walls of the room.

"Don't make me kill you right now," Ladronella uttered after she stood up. She spoke in a tone that was without any trace of her usual sophistication.

Rouge ignored her mother and charged at her. Ladronella jumped over her as Rouge ran under her, but Rouge made a surprising move. She back-flipped into the air and hit Ladronella with a huge force. She skidded into the wall, but got up relatively easily.

"I knew you were a mistake," she breathed out, wiping the blood from her lip. Examining it angrily on her glove, she returned to her daughter. "I regretted it before you were even _hatched_." She put extra emphasis on the last word.

"You think that's bad?" Rouge retorted. "Imagine having you for a mother."

Ladronella quickly mocked a smile before jumping at Rouge. Seeing it coming, Rouge stepped out of the way again. But Ladronella simply swung her foot out to the side and kicked Rouge across the room. Shaking herself into focus, Rouge just barely slid down the wall and under Ladronella's kick that would have sent her head crashing into the wall. Avoiding the drill kick, Rouge stood up and got into position. Before Ladronella could react, Rouge sent a roundhouse kick to her chest, and she was knocked back a couple of feet. Not letting it get to her, Ladronella jumped back into battle.

Rouge dodged her first attack, but could not escape the second and was kicked straight up into the air. Another kick from below sent her accelerating into the ceiling, where she smacked into stone before falling to the floor.

Before she reached the ground, Rouge was able to get her wings spread and keep high in the air to avoid Ladronella's next kick. Getting a good position above her mother, Rouge plummeted to the floor with her toes drilling down. Ladronella saw it and put her hands up to stop it. Surprised by this change of defense, Rouge was then thrown through the air. That accomplished nothing as Rouge opened her wings again and tried once more to get Ladronella with a drill kick.

Rouge tried to fake Ladronella out by darting back and forth in the air. Eventually, Rouge came down, but missed her mother entirely. Now vulnerable to attack, Rouge was kicked into the wall once more. She couldn't handle much more of that; eventually she was going to lose consciousness. Again, she shook the dizziness out of her head as best as she could and braced herself for another attack.

She brought her own boot up to meet Ladronella's, but her force was too great, and Rouge felt her body sink back into the wall. That force channeled through her body, and she had to keep from falling as it weakened her strength. She was able to push Ladronella's boot away with her own before flying right at her and kicking her in the stomach. Ladronella did not go very far, but the wind was knocked out of her.

A little slow getting up, Ladronella shrugged off her pain and suddenly flew by Rouge towards the exit. Picking up on this, Rouge turned and sprinted to the hallway after her. It was a short corridor surrounded by brown stone. Quickly, Ladronella turned left and picked up her speed. Rouge never lost sight of her mother as she, too, sped around the corner and ran after her.

The chase gave Rouge confidence. Obviously, Ladronella had fled because she couldn't handle the battle much longer. That meant it truly was in Rouge's power to defeat her. Until now, Rouge had only been hoping to do such a thing—her mother had all the same skills with thirty more years of experience.

Eventually, they reached a spiral staircase. Upon entering the stairwell, Ladronella hit the button on the right wall, and Rouge could see from her position as the stairs disappeared into the floor. Ladronella then jumped and landed on her rear as she let the slide take her down to the dungeons. Close behind her, Rouge did the same thing, but Rouge lost her mother behind the wall on the inside as Ladronella increased the gap between them.

For what seemed like an hour, Rouge finally slid into the floor of the dungeon room. Ladronella was still visible ahead of her, but she was slowly getting out of sight in the darkness. Rouge stood up and sped off after her, not at all hindered now by the near-pitch black of the dungeons thanks to her sonar.

Suddenly, she began to see an opening ahead. Registering it as yet another hall-room, Rouge continued to chase her mother into it before stopping to see that Ladronella had now turned around. She dove just in time under her mother's jump kick, and then she proceeded to roll to the side and up to her feet. Rouge quickly turned around and jumped into the air, ready to deliver an attack of her own.

But Ladronella saw that one coming and jumped out of the way. She then flew furiously at Rouge and kicked her into the wall. With some of her strength returned after the last fight, Rouge agilely rolled out of harm's way again. She stood up carefully and turned to look at her mother.

"When are you going to admit that you've lost?" she asked, sounding quite annoyed.

"Hah!" Ladronella burst out. "This is far from over. And I never lose," she added with an evil grin.

The two bats flew at each other and let their boots do the rest of the talking. Ladronella made the first move, but Rouge moved her head out of the way as she brought her own foot up. Ladronella easily jumped over it and over Rouge altogether. Before her mother could land behind her, however, Rouge kicked another boot at Ladronella, and it hit her hip with a powerful force that knocked her to the ground.

Quickly getting to her feet, Ladronella sped at Rouge and sent her across the room with a kick of her own. She then started running for the exit again. Sighing as she stood up, Rouge ran as hard as she could after her mother. This wasn't going to be fun.

* * *

"I'm scared," said Cream as the group continued to walk through the darkness. 

"We've been walking for at least five minutes and nothing's changed," Shadow noted hopelessly. "Are we even sure this tunnel leads anywhere?"

"It's got to lead somewhere," said Knuckles.

Shadow rolled his eyes, but no one could see him. "Thanks for that wisdom," he uttered sarcastically. Knuckles shot a glare in the direction of Shadow's voice, but said nothing. "How do we even know this isn't a dead end?" asked Shadow.

"We don't," Knuckles said irritably. "Would you like to stay here and wait to die down here?"

"Boys, enough," said Blaze. "Just keep your eyes peeled for that treasury."

Shadow produced a stupefied look. "Let me know if you can see anything down here," he said.

Blaze turned to what must have been Shadow. "I said enough!" she shouted. "If you're feeling useless, you can just stay here and we can come back for you later."

Shadow grumbled under his breath as they continued marching. Suddenly, Knuckles became aware of something and stopped suddenly. "Cream?" he said. No reply was heard.

"Uh-oh," said Blaze. "We need to go and find her."

"Well, you have such good eyes down here, so why don't you lead the way?" said Shadow. Suddenly Shadow felt a fist drive into his stomach.

He couldn't help but double over, but he quickly straightened up. "Are you done?" asked Blaze, clearly fed up with his sarcasm.

Surprised, Shadow glared at what must have been her face before turning around with Blaze and Knuckles to go find Cream.

* * *

Cream slowly walked down the corridor. Following the tiny ball of light above her, she had completely forgotten about the others as she walked under the only source of light in the dungeons. It was a curious light seemed to be beckoning Cream to follow it. And it was actually very beautiful against the black void around it. It called out with promises of more beauty as it continued to move down the corridor. 

Turning left, the light led Cream to a flight of stairs. Passing an intersection with another hallway, Cream just managed to hear her friends call out her name as she walked to the foot of the stairs and ascended them. What she saw at the top of the stairs was jaw-dropping.

The room, which was a fairly large room compared to the others down here, was nearly filled with jewels of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and even diamonds shined under the now growing light, and Cream could now see the whole treasury room. A walkway through the mountains of jewels had clearly been left open so as to navigate through the mounds of precious stones. Taking a moment to admire the sight, Cream walked around where she could and gasped at the size of some of the stones. Some were as big as her head, some were as big as she was, or even bigger, and some were tiny enough to hold in the palm of her hand. Any color she could think of glimmered in front of her, or behind her, or above her, or next to her. The jewels were amazing, and Cream could not help but admire them.

Suddenly, she remembered her friends outside. Wondering why they hadn't followed her in, she walked down the stairs and saw them all, including Knuckles, Blaze, and Shadow, standing in front of the stairs.

"Cream!" shouted Amy. "Are you in there?"

Puzzled, Cream waved at her, but Amy didn't even notice, and she was looking right at her. "I'm right here!" she shouted. They must have heard her, because they started at the sound of her voice.

They still looked puzzled though. Sonic stepped forward and tapped at thin air, but Cream heard his knuckles rap on something. Confused, Cream walked forward, calling out to them again. "I'm right here!" she shouted and waved again.

Now Knuckles came forward and punched at the spot where Sonic had tapped. Expecting to get hit, Cream yelped and ducked, but his fist was stopped by something. It appeared to bounce off of nothing. Confused, Cream reached forward with her finger and slowly pointed at her friends. Her finger was not stopped, so she pushed it out farther. They must have seen it, because they all gasped and stared at it.

"Guys!" she shouted. "This is my finger! Can you see it?"

"Yeah!" Amy shouted back. "Where are you?"

"I'm standing right in front of you!"

"That's not possible," said Blaze. "There's a stone wall in front of us. Your finger is coming out of it though."

Cream thought for a moment as she continued to hold her finger out. Suddenly, she got an idea. "Someone grab my finger!" she yelled out.

Tails walked forward and grabbed it. "OK!" he shouted.

Cream began to walk backwards, pulling Tails toward her. Suddenly, she was stopped, and so was Tails, who looked like he walked right into a solid wall. Apparently, he had.

"Sorry, Tails!" she shouted to him. "I don't know how you guys can get in—I don't even know how I got in. I can see you guys perfectly, even in the dark, but you can't see me, can you?"

"No," said Sonic. "Can you think of anything weird happening when you walked through the wall?"

Cream pondered the possibility. "Well," she said. "I was following a pretty light through the halls, and then all of a sudden, I came to a staircase and started walking. Now I'm in the treasury."

"The WHAT?!" they all shouted. "You found the treasury?!"

"Yeah! I guess this weird little light guided me to it."

"So…how do we get in?" asked Shadow.

"Um," muttered Cream. "I don't know."

"Wait, Cream," said Blaze. "If you're in the treasury, can you take the jewels out?"

"Yeah, I think so," she replied. She walked back up the stairs and over to the hoard of jewels. Reaching down to grab one, she took it in her hand and walked casually back down the stairs. But as she did so, the light behind her shrunk again and rushed ahead to loom above her. Confused again, Cream nevertheless continued walking down the stairs, with the light continuing to follow her. Standing in the shadow of the light, Cream handed the gem out to Blaze. "Here you go!"

Suddenly, all of them jumped as Cream reached out to them. Then they all relaxed as they casually walked forward to reunite with Cream.

"So it's the light then," Shadow mused.

"Yeah, it must be for whenever Ladronella comes down here," suggested Sonic. "She follows it to the treasury, and she can only get in under the light." He laughed. "I guess it's more clever than having brainless guards stand outside it."

Now that they all finally had access to the treasury, the heroes rushed forward up the stairs and cheered as they looked upon all of the Earth's (and other planets) stolen jewels, all right in front of them. They had finally completed their mission. Now they just had to get the jewels out of the palace.


	20. The Last Mission

A/N: Thanks to freak 0n a leash for reviewing my story and joining the massive list of four reviewers. Another thanks to Nari for once again reviewing my story. I have over 2000 hits and only 16 reviews from 4 readers. Please review (idc if you like it or hate it, just tell me what you think and why)!

* * *

**Chapter 20: The Last Mission**

Ladronella burst into the dungeon corridor and began searching frantically for the light. Running at full speed, she could pay little attention to her surroundings. She also had to concern herself with Rouge's friends being down here. With so much on her mind, she wanted to scream and relieve her stress, but she couldn't do that now. She had to slip away from Rouge long enough to get to the treasury before Rouge's friends could find it. She would have to use the secret hatch out of the treasury to get the jewels out. But the hatch was not large enough to accommodate her as an escape route, so she would have to be very careful about getting in and out.

She heard footsteps behind her, reminding her that her daughter was still pursuing her. Tired of this game, Ladronella once again turned and ran, with no choice but to get to the treasury by any means necessary.

While running, Ladronella tried to get a sense of where the light was. Reaching deep into her mind, she was able to pick up its general location based on its radiance and the fact that it was the only light source down here. What she could see in her mind made her gasp in horror.

Those fools were in the treasury! Somehow, they managed to use the light to find their way in! But surely they couldn't comprehend the power of that light and what it could do for them. Keeping that image in front of her eyes for motivation, Ladronella sprinted faster than ever toward the treasury.

The hatch wasn't so secret. It could be found accidentally, and if Rouge's friends found it, Ladronella' future was as good as over. And all that hard work of the past forty years…Ladronella did now scream as she continued to quicken her pace to the treasury.

After several minutes of non-stop sprinting, Ladronella noticed that the footsteps behind her had stopped. Far from comforting her, this served only to cause Ladronella to tighten up even more. Not knowing where Rouge was down here was dangerous. Ladronella could not help but to cry out in anger again; suddenly all of her plans and all of her control were crumbling all around her. She instinctively began to reach forward as of to take something that was escaping from her as she ran to save her jewels.

Rounding a nearby corner, Ladronella, even in the near-pitch black, could make out several hundred feet ahead of her the corridor that lead through the "wall" into the treasury. Worrying about not being able to get in, Ladronella then realized she forgot that she did not need the light to get in. The "wall" was programmed to accept her DNA and would permit her to enter with or without the light. The light just made navigating the darkness easier. Unfortunately, she also remembered that because the fake wall accepted her own DNA, it would also accept Rouge's genetic makeup. Mentally sighing, she slowed to a stop before walking over to the fake wall on her right.

Suddenly, Ladronella felt a boot nail her in the side, and she found herself on the ground putting a hand on her bruised hip. Before she could look up, Rouge kicked her once more, and Ladronella skidded across the floor. She was slow getting up, but Rouge wasted no time in barging into the treasury. Speeding up the stairs, her friends startled and turned around, surprised and happy to see her.

Rouge, exhausted and breathing heavy, put a hand up to stop her friends from saying anything. She had to make this quick. "There is a secret hatch somewhere in here," she told them through deep breaths. She swallowed before continuing. "You have to find it before—"

She was interrupted by a blow from behind that sent her flying into the piles of jewels on the other side of the room. Ordinarily, Rouge would have enjoyed her current position of being surrounded by precious jewels, but now was not the time.

Ladronella stood at the edge of the stairs. "No one is going anywhere," she told them all loudly. She then adopted a lower, more threatening tone. "You will all pay dearly for this."

"Not likely, you twisted thief," said Sonic. "You're outnumbered nine-to—"

Just like Rouge, Sonic was interrupted by a sudden kick that knocked him backwards into the massive mountains of jewels. The others, surprised at her speed, did not take their gaze off her. "I am quite capable of handling myself," she told them. She then let herself laugh a little. "Just ask Knuckles and Shadow."

""I'd like to see you try and stop us!" shouted Blaze. "You're the one who's going to pay for all the chaos you wreaked on Earth."

Ladronella smirked at her before speeding forward at the purple hedgehog. Blaze jumped out of the way, but she forgot that Cream was right behind her. Ladronella, already with her boot out for the kick, knocked Cream hard into the jewels. The rabbit let out a yelp as she fell into the sea of gems.

Tails, unable to control his emotions, flew furiously at Ladronella and gave her a taste of his boot. This did little more than stun Ladronella, but her lip was bleeding, and that was enough to get her mad.

Before Ladronella could attack, however, Knuckles came from her left side and landed a fist to her face. She was knocked into the air, where Shadow followed up on Knuckles' attack with a jump attack that knocked her back to the floor. Landing next to Knuckles, Shadow fell into a fighting position. "That's for before at the execution chambers," he said loud enough for her to hear.

But Ladronella was laughing as she stood up. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to get revenge on me. For the ultimate life-form, you really don't stand out among your pathetic friends."

While most of the heroes kept Ladronella busy, Sonic, Rouge, and Cream searched everywhere under the jewels for the secret hatch. Swimming through the stones, Rouge felt for the ground and walls. She moved frantically but quietly through the gems so as not to alert Ladronella. She began to tap on the walls and floor around her, and eventually she came across a hollow point within the stone. It was in the floor, so she stomped as hard as she could into the floor surrounded by the mound of jewels. It did nothing, but Rouge could feel by stomping on it that it was hollow stone. Looking around for a switch, she was suddenly startled when the hatch door slid open. Looking around, she saw Sonic waving to her and pointing at a small button he had found on the wall. Rouge gave him the thumbs-up, and then began shoveling jewels down into the hatch.

Meanwhile, above the surface of the gems, Ladronella managed to get a kick at Tikal before being knocked across the room by another punch from Knuckles. Tikal got up quickly and got into position. While Ladronella was still getting up, Tikal jumped above her and hit her further into the ground with a drill drive. Ladronella was able to get up after that, and she was looking more and more impatient.

Before she made her move to attack Knuckles, she noticed one of the jewel mountains behind him was beginning to sink. Realizing they had started the escape for her, she suddenly turned and ran towards the stairs. Confused, the heroes nevertheless chased after her. But they were shocked to see Rouge suddenly come from behind them and tackle Ladronella down the stairs. They rolled out into the corridor before Rouge got up and kicked her mother down the corridor to the left.

"Go and get the jewels!" she told the others as they continued to run down the corridor in the opposite direction. "Make sure they don't end up on one of Ladronella's ships!"

The others waved as they all made their way out of the treasury. "Good luck!" they all shouted.

Rouge nodded before returning to her mother. It was just the two of them now, and there was no holding back. This would be a fight to the death.

Rouge took a quick look inside the treasury to make sure the jewels were continuing to sink beneath the floor before she countered her mother's kick. Ladronella was able to land a roundhouse kick at her chest, and Rouge was knocked back a little bit. She let herself retreat back into the treasury and let her mother pursue her back in there.

Instead of charging her, Ladronella simply stood at the edge of the stairs facing Rouge. Staring at her daughter, Ladronella tightened her muscles and prepared for attack. "I will make you pay for all this," she said. Frankly, Rouge was tired of hearing these threats. "You may have freed my planet and stolen my jewels from me, but I will not let you live to see the end of this day. I promise you, you and your friends will die." She gritted her teeth and locked her jaw tighter than Rouge had seen it yet. Ladronella was finally realizing that her scheme was all but over. She could only watch as her precious jewels fell to the hatch underneath them. But she vowed that they would never make it to Rouge's friends. They would be dead before they reached them.

Ladronella pulled out a small remote with a single button on it. Rouge stepped forward, and when she did so, Ladronella put up her hand and held her finger above the button. "One more step," she seethed. "And this palace will self-destruct. None of us will get out alive. I'm sure you don't want that, now do you?"

Rouge's eyes became slits as she continued to stare at her mother. Seeing no other way, she conceded. "What do you want me to do?"

Ladronella smiled confidently. Holding the remote out like a gun, she said, "Stop the jewels from falling. Close the hatch."

Sighing, Rouge frowned as she turned around to face the shrinking mound of jewels behind her. She waded into the mound and walked until she was waist-deep in gems. She let her hands run along the smooth surfaces of the stones, but she was not paying attention to their features right now. Instead, she quickly grabbed one, turned around, and threw it directly at Ladronella's hand as hard and fast as she could. Ladronella could not react in time, and the remote was knocked from her hands. She did however, manage to catch Rouge coming back at her. And she had finally lost it.

Ladronella merely put her arm up to block Rouge's kick. Using this, she reared her boot back and kicked Rouge hard in the stomach. It did not knock her back, but she was vulnerable. Grunting as she attacked, Ladronella marched forward more furiously than she even thought she could as she landed powerful kick after powerful kick all over Rouge. Rouge received blows to her face, her chest, her stomach, her sides, and her limbs, and she could not defend herself. Her mother's kicks were coming far too fast. Crying out now for each blow, Rouge suddenly fell to the ground, unable to physically bear another kick. That is, until her mother kicked her again, and she was sent flying into the wall of the treasury.

Too dizzy now to see clearly, Rouge could not defend herself. Up against the wall, Rouge felt blow after blow drive her farther and farther into the wall. Feeling as though she were sinking slowly into the wall, Rouge began to lose the feeling in her muscles as her mother's kicks merely piled bruises on top of bruises. Losing her voice, Rouge was reduced to moaning as Ladronella's kicks never let up. Her swollen eyes were able to register Ladronella stopping her attack. Feeling every muscle in her body burning and bleeding, and most likely a few broken bones panging on her raw nerves, Rouge fell helplessly to the cold, stone floor. Even in her damaged skull, she could tell that it would only take one more forceful kick to a vital area to kill her. But Ladronella was above that—she would torture her to death instead.

Rouge's nerves managed to pick up a cold sole of a boot settle on her head, and she cringed even at that slight touch. She tried with everything inside of her to get up, but her muscles were just too weak. She had lost. Ladronella had won. It was over. Her friends were all going to die. Ladronella would get her jewels. She would get everything. Rouge would die with nothing. And these thoughts kept Rouge's fire burning.

Ladronella pushed her boot into Rouge's head with all of her lower body strength. Unable to control her tolerance anymore, Rouge cried out in pain. She had never felt anything like this before. She was slowly being killed.

She could still manage to hear Ladronella over her. "It's such a shame!" she yelled so Rouge could hear her through all of the ringing in her ears. "You could have survived. You could have worked with me. We could have learned to maybe even get along with each other. All you had to do was give me one damned jewel."

Ladronella continued to push her foot into Rouge's head, and by now Rouge could feel her skull begin to crack. Her senses were numb, but she could not block out her mother. "But no. You had to be a hero. You had to save your pathetic planet and stop your big bad mother. You had to bring your friends here. You had to free my prisoners and wage war on my planet. You had to oppose me any way you could."

She gritted her teeth as she continued the torture of her foot. "But you failed. You failed everywhere. Your friends will die. The rebellion will die. You will die. And I will get my jewels. I will get everything I have always wanted. You may have forced me to flee for a safer location, but I will return here, after my troops bring the planet back under control. Your precious planet Earth will fall into a worldwide depression with no end. Malterr will be mine again. And you and your friends will be destroyed."

Ladronella began to laugh as she heard Rouge's cries die down. "Once you are dead and I'm gone, the palace will be destroyed, along with all of your poor friends. They will never know what happened. And it's all thanks to you." She laughed harder and harder as Rouge got even quieter.

But while her screams were becoming moans, her fire continued to burn. She could see all of her friends walking hopelessly through the dark dungeons, trying desperately to find the escape. And then, suddenly, they were all crushed under the explosion above them. They all cried out in horror as they were forever silenced. And it was all Rouge's fault.

"No," she said. She didn't even know she had said it, and Ladronella looked down at her broken body. With any remaining strength, Ladronella pushed as hard as she could into her daughter's head. But it did not silence her.

"No," she said again. "It's…not…my…fault…." Every word became louder. Every syllable gained more emotion. Ignoring the pressure above her, she was able to bring her arms up and grab her mother's ankle. "It's not my fault!"

With sudden strength, Rouge tightened her grip on her mother's boot and threw her off of her head. Suddenly standing up, Rouge shouted with uncontrollable rage. She stared with her eyes wide open at her mother, who was just getting up. "It's all your fault!" she finally said.

Stunned that her daughter recovered from such an attack so quickly, Ladronella was slow to react as Rouge raged forward at her. A powerful kick to the chest sent her into the wall. Falling from it, Ladronella could not even look up as her daughter spoke again.

"All this time, all of this suffering, all of this pain, I had been blaming it on myself," Rouge said as her voice grew louder and stronger. She kicked her mother again, and Ladronella skidded across the floor into the wall. "I fooled myself into thinking that I was responsible for everything that happened on Earth. I took the blame and I cried myself to sleep more nights than I can count." She stomped forward toward Ladronella. "I kept telling myself that I made those decisions. I convinced myself that it was my fault that Knuckles and I were over, that it was my fault that I lost all of my friends. And the blame was on me for bringing Knuckles and Shadow here to be taken prisoner and nearly beaten to death by you and your henchmen."

Ladronella, for the first time in her life, looked up in fear. Desperately, she stood up quickly, but she was knocked back down again before she could blink. And when she did blink, her daughter was standing over her. She made a mad dash for the remote, and she did manage to grab it before Rouge kicked her once more, this time into the vanishing hoard of jewels.

Ladronella landed on the highest remaining mound, and it was actually retaining its shape since it was not directly above the shaft. Her head lay on the flat top of the pile while the rest of her body was against the slope of the small mountain. Rouge wasted no time in flying up to her and getting her foot in the position she herself was under only a minute ago. But Ladronella still held the remote.

Finding something to grin about, Ladronella regained her composure in her vulnerable position. With Rouge's boot levitating just above her head and ready to snap her neck, Ladronella dared her to move.

"If you kill me," she said, still grinning evilly. "Everyone in this palace—including your friends—will die. And this time, it will be your fault."

But Rouge stood steadfast, and in fact, she looked ready to make her move. "I am not your slave anymore," she said with more confidence as she ever had before. "It was all you. It will be you. If anyone dies, it will be on your hands, not mine."

Ladronella, facing the reality upon her, would not die disgracefully. Smirking one last time, she brought her finger down on the small red button, and with that move, Rouge brought her boot down with a much more powerful force, and ended the life of her evil mother.

* * *

The heroes turned a corner and found themselves in front of the staircase that led back up to the main floor. With no time to lose, they sprinted up the stairs. Just another flight above them was the landing that led into the foyer through an open doorway. But just as they reached the top of the stairs, an explosion rang out all around them. Shouting out in terror, they all dived forward for the exit. But not before the blinding light from the bomb. 

Sonic shielded his eyes and curled up as best as he could to protect his whole body as the sound of stone and crumbling brick came from above. Mentally panicking, he would not let his physical self do the same by running around randomly and risking getting crushed by falling rocks. He was much safer curled up in his small, secure state.

After only small pebbles landed on his head and back, Sonic slowly opened his eyes and stood up. The bomb had created a fire that fed off of the few wooden sections of the floor and walls. There were scattered boulders and fallen bricks and tumbled pillars all around him. Seeing no one else around him, he sighed a relief in his mind to see that they had all gotten out safely save for him. And he was about to jump over the pillar laying in front of him when he heard a shout from somewhere in front of him.

Through the smoke and fire and the sounds of the crumbling palace, it was difficult to see past the open doorway to the foyer, and it actually sounded like one of his friends screaming from outside the palace door. But the smoke could not mess with his hearing—that was Knuckles, and he was fighting something.

"Let me go, damnit!" his voice shouted. He sounded more emotional and scared than Sonic had ever heard him before. "She's still down there! I said let go of me! I won't let her die down there! I love her! I'm not going to leave her!" And then his voice cracked into sobbing, and it sounded as if his chest was heaving. "I won't lose her!"

It was then that Sonic suddenly remembered that Rouge was still down in the dungeons. Shocked into immobility, he shook himself and tried to think of what he should do. Should he try to go back down and find Rouge, or should he get out while he still could? Despite the warning signs of a palace about to collapse, Sonic turned around and made to run back towards the stairs. And that's when he stopped.

His foot in mid-step, it fell weakly to the floor as Sonic saw Blaze lying underneath a fallen pillar. Gasping out loud, Sonic picked his foot back up and ran as hard as he ever had to just a few feet in front of him, where the girl he was deep in love with was suffocating under the weight of the massive stone.

She was grunting as she struggled to even breath. Forgetting about Rouge entirely, Sonic knelt down and took Blaze's hand in his own as if to give her his strength to hold on. "Blaze," he said far softer than he meant. His eyes were filled with water, now remembering a certain nightmare he had not so long ago. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Another boulder fell from the ceiling, but Sonic did not even flinch as it landed with a crash inches away from him.

Blaze was able to crane her head to look up at him. "Sonic," she said weakly. "You have to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you!" he shouted, his voice cracking uncontrollably and his eyes leaking tears that fell to his gritting teeth. He felt it dissipate in his mouth but paid no attention. He swallowed hard. "I'm going to get help."

The fire continued to grow ever more furiously, and pebbles and rocks continued to fall from the ceiling. There wasn't much time left.

"It's too late," Blaze whispered, her voice losing its usual power and emotion. "You won't be able to get me out in time. And I…" she struggled physically now to speak. "I won't let you die for me. Not with what you have going for you in life."

Sonic had to tear his gaze away from her. He pulled his lips into his face to stop himself from crying. He couldn't let this happen. But there was nothing he could do to save her. She was going to die no matter what. And Sonic was powerless to stop it. He could not face her.

But he brought himself back to her one last time, and at that moment, he let his lips show themselves once more, and they met Blaze's lips as the two hedgehogs said goodbye forever. They let themselves lie there together for a long moment, neither wanting it to end. But it had to. Slowly and delicately, Sonic pulled away from Blaze, and he saw her one last time.

"You were my first love," he said through the tears. "I never thought it was meant for me, but hey, I've been wrong before, right?" he laughed, and he truly did laugh, trying to let his old, carefree self shine through. But he couldn't deny what was happening now. His laugh melted away, and he let the tears flow again. "I'll never forget you, Blaze."

Blaze smiled through her own tears. "I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog," she said quietly. But before letting go of him, she spoke again. "Will you promise me something?"

"Anything in the world."

"Will you promise me that you will…treat Amy as the friend that she has been to you? She has so much potential to help you, and…she can be a really good friend when you need one. She really cares about you, Sonic. I just want you both to be happy with each other. Will you promise me that?"

Sonic gave it no thought. "Of course," he said sincerely. "I promise to let Amy in more in what I do, and I promise to treat her like a friend. You have my word."

"Thank you," said Blaze quietly. Sonic could see from the look in her eyes that she was going into the light. He brought her hand to his lips again and kissed it before forever letting it go. She mouthed a goodbye to him, and he returned it as the fire surrounding them suddenly grew fiercely with the passion in the room. Slowly, Sonic turned around, and he made himself jump over the pillar blocking his exit. As soon as he stepped out into the collapsing foyer, another large boulder fell behind him, and he truly said goodbye as he turned away from the now completely blocked doorway. Never looking back, Sonic ran full speed out of the palace as stones collapsed and fires swelled around him. Jumping out just in time, he landed on his feet to see his friends all in a close group trying to console themselves with their losses.

Tails heard a step behind him, and he turned around quickly to see Sonic, in the flesh, standing there in front of the palace.

"He's alive!" Tails cried out. "Sonic's alive!"

The others shot up and looked back to the palace. There stood Sonic, looking very disheveled and dirty. But he was alive. They all ran forward, and Amy made sure she got to him first. She wrapped him in a hug, and for a moment he wanted to tell her to get off. But then—

"Wait, where's Blaze?" came Tails' voice.

And Sonic let Amy hug him. He let her hold him until he could stand strong. She did finally let go to catch his reply. But all he could do was shake his head.

And then the smiles were wiped from all of their faces once more. Amy wrapped her arms around him again, and he stood there for a moment, not sure how to react. He finally broke, and he brought his own arms up to return her hug. And he just sobbed into her shoulder.

While Amy let Sonic cry on her shoulder, Tikal was holding Knuckles as he let his own emotions and loss overcome his usual tough exterior. He had no guard left; he had just lost the love of his life.

There was a five minute moment of silence for the lost heroines as Sonic and Knuckles let their grief pass peacefully. When they were ready to go, they told the others so, and they all turned around and walked down the stairs from the palace. Before they reached the bottom step, however, they heard a noise behind them.

They all quickly turned around to see a familiar white bat standing in front of the destroyed palace door. Rouge, looking like she had made her way through Hell and back, slowly brought her fist up and shouted weakly, "She's dead! Ladronella's dead! We did it!"

Knuckles could not help himself. Refusing to take this for granted—if this was just a spirit he saw—the echidna ran up the stairs and nearly knocked Rouge over as he held her in his arms once more. He started crying again, and he couldn't help himself. He brought his face into Rouge's, and they locked lips for the first time all over again. And Knuckles continued to cry, because now he knew that he had her back. She was back forever. They could be happy and together forever.

The others joined them at the top of the stairs and waited as Knuckles and Rouge broke away from each other. Rouge turned to the others and hugged each of them. But when she got to Sonic, she noticed something. Realizing that Blaze was nowhere in sight, and seeing the look in Sonic's eyes, Rouge's eyes widened in sadness as she pulled Sonic into a tight embrace. She couldn't help but hold him tight. He had just lost Blaze, the love of his life.

She pulled away, but she didn't take her hands off of his arms. "I'm so sorry," she said weakly. "If…if I could do anything…"

She wanted to say something, but she was speechless. Not even her own final victory over Ladronella could make her smile in the face of Sonic's pain. She had her mouth open, but Sonic put his hand up to stop her.

He smiled the best smile he could muster. "I'll be all right," he told her, and everyone else around him. "I'll be all right. Now what do you guys say we ditch this rock and head back to Earth, huh?"

The others, glad to see the old Sonic back, wholeheartedly agreed. They all turned one last time away from the palace and marched down the stairs, ready to finally return to the planet they all called home.

* * *

A/N: This is not the end guys! There's still one more chapter in progress for those who care to see how it all ends (there will be some significant things in the last chapter that will develop in my next story). I hope you all enjoyed it so far, but there's still one more to go!


	21. Final Farewell

A/N: Many thanks to Luv4Knux and Nari (once again) for their reviews. Hoping more of you will join them!

**Chapter 21: Final Farewell**

Rouge lie quietly in her bed at the medical clinic in Desordia. It was calm in the small room, the walls keeping out much of the buzz outside as patients continued to roll in on stretchers and available doctors and nurses were constantly running past Rouge's door. The city had been liberated for hours, and so many wounded soldiers and civilians were safe to come here and heal or rest.

Looking up at the ceiling from her comfortable bed, Rouge felt anything but settled. So much had changed for her. She sighed as she played back the image of breaking into the treasury, and then of fighting her mother, and then of nearly dying at Ladronella's hands, and finally killing her mother and making her way out of the palace alive. She was still in awe of how she managed to survive the collapse in the dungeon. It had all happened in such a short time, but Rouge could recount everything.

Her mother had activated the bomb just before Rouge broke her neck, so Rouge knew her end was upon her. But she remembered feeling relieved like she had never felt before in all her life. Her mother was dead, and Rouge was free from her commands and threats forever. She knew she would never make it back to Earth alive, but she spent that split second fantasizing about her new life on the planet she called home.

She saw herself moving in with Knuckles in a comfortable apartment just outside of the capital, where together they would plan the rest of their lives. She saw them inviting their friends over and telling them all that she and Knuckles were getting married, and she pictured all of their happy faces as she received hugs from them all and even an awkward, but generous toast from Sonic. She had laughed at that, knowing Sonic would want to say something but not be able to put it in the right words.

At that point, Rouge came out of thought and frowned. Laying there as silent as the walls around her, she immersed herself in why she couldn't be completely overjoyed. She saw Sonic standing by himself as the rest of her friends came to hug her and tell her how glad they were to see her alive. But while she heard them, she wasn't listening so much to them. She could only focus on Sonic, standing there as if his life had no meaning anymore, that everything he loved in the world was destroyed. And Rouge looked around quickly and saw no Blaze around her, and she put the pieces together. Rouge never really knew Blaze that well, but she could see in Sonic's eyes that he was madly in love with her. She had been the first girl in his life to shine through to him, and now she was gone and never coming back. And Rouge felt completely responsible.

Frustrated, Rouge shifted in the bed as her thoughts now turned to her escape from the palace. Once the heavy rocks started caving in, Rouge dove into the small mound of gems that were left on the floor of the treasury. She knew they would not save her, but she felt more comfortable underneath something as the ceiling above her cracked and collapsed. She braced herself as the rocks began to fall, but to her astonishment, nothing landed on her. A couple of small pebbles bounced off her head, but she was not crushed by anything. But she looked up and saw that the noise from above that sounded threatening was much worse than what appeared, and most of the ceiling was still intact, but it would be coming down any minute. Thinking quickly, Rouge waded through the gems to the hatch and jumped down into it. But before falling below the floor, she grabbed the ledge of the hole and let herself dangle there. The hole was small enough to block the large boulders that would crush Rouge, but she would still have to watch out for the smaller ones, for they could still knock her out cold with a hard enough blow to the head.

She remembered feeling a pebble land on her head, and she jolted in bed as it played back through her mind. Instinctively bringing her hand to her head, she continued to go through her escape. At the time, she wasn't even sure if it was even worth it to survive the cave-in. But she knew she had to move if she wanted any hope of getting out in one piece. Going through everything she knew about the palace, Rouge wasn't sure dropping down into the hatch was the best escape route, especially not when it could be tight down there, and if a heavy boulder fell in, she would really be trapped. Just as that thought crossed her, a menacing crack sounded above her, and she pulled herself up to the floor and skidded away from the hatch. It was only then, as a slab from the ceiling fell to cover the hole, that Rouge remembered the jewels still lingering in the treasury. A few of them were left to endure dirt and dust as stones fell and covered the gems and silenced their shine.

Mentally sighing, Rouge knew there was no way of getting the jewels out now by herself. They would have to send the troops over to the palace anyway to collect anything that Ladronella had stolen from the people or that was required to rule the planet. That is, if such things were still intact. Ladronella had certainly made sure she left nothing—or as close to nothing—behind for any of the rebels or heroes to recover. But there had to be some areas that weren't as hard hit by the blast. The troops could come by and get the jewels; she certainly wasn't going to dig around for them. She laughed at the irony of that statement, but then refocused on finding a way out.

Rouge shifted in the bed again. That uneasiness lingered in her mind, and she still felt trapped to some extent. But that fear had been with her ever since Prison Island. That same fear drove her to get out while she still could, otherwise she would die trapped in a dungeon.

She ran towards the stairs and saw a pile of stones in front of the entrance to the treasury. They weren't anything bigger than Rouge's head, but there were a lot of them. She would need to at least move half of them from the top so she could squeeze out into the corridors. From there, she would have to basically pick a passage and try it to see if it led to the surface. It was then that she brought her hand up and smacked her own forehead. She forgot about the light in the treasury. Rouge turned around and saw its glow dimming as the dust from the fallen stones began to cloud the room. Walking back to the jewel pile, she picked up a gem and waited for the light to move to be over her. It did so, so she turned back to the stairs and walked towards the stone pile. Then—

She stopped and fell backward as a massive boulder plummeted to the floor inches in front of her. Gasping, she began to shake uncontrollably. She was losing her nerve as she realized there was no other way out other than the hatch, and she didn't want to take that chance. But she had no choice. She took the jewel and the light back up to the hatch. Suddenly, the light began swerving back and forth above Rouge's head before speeding towards a wall. Acting quickly, Rouge chased it to the wall and did not flinch as she came within an inch from running right into the stone. Trusting the light, she sprinted right through the illusionary wall. Looking around the small corridor as she ran, Rouge felt guilty for not giving her friends a chance to go this way. It was metal, unlike the rest of the stone dungeon, which made it relatively safe to navigate after the explosion. It was not impenetrable, but it was sturdy enough to keep from crumbling and dropping sudden slabs on one's head. Thinking about her friends now, Rouge prayed they all made it out okay.

The rest of the way was cake compared to what her experience would have been in the stone hallways. This was obviously intended for exactly what Rouge was using it for, and only Ladronella was supposed to have access. Rouge claimed that from her as she sprinted up the steps to the surface. Within a few minutes, she had already slipped the gem into her pocket for fear of dropping it accidentally as she ran, and she made her way into a hallway on the first floor of the palace. Navigating the floor was a bit tricky, but she knew her way around up here, and Rouge was outside in moments.

Rouge rolled over as she stirred from her deep thoughts. But when she turned over, she saw Sonic again, standing there all alone. As much as she felt sorry for him, she wanted to be happy. She had finally freed herself from her mother. She could now live her own life and pursue things she wanted without worrying about things being held over her head. And now she felt guilty for what happened to Blaze. What if she had found the secret path while they were all in there and they all got out alive? She hadn't told anyone about it yet. She hadn't had much of a chance to talk to anyone since she got here.

At that moment, the door to her room opened quietly. One of the Malterrian doctors walked in and smiled at Rouge. "Are you ready for visitors?"

Rouge returned the grin. "Definitely."

"Well that's good," the doctor said, laughing. "Because we couldn't keep this guy out of here for much longer."

Knuckles held back the urge to run in as he walked into the room and over to the side of her bed. He reached down and grabbed her hand delicately. He then bent near her and kissed her cheek.

"How are you doing?" he asked, glad to see her sitting up and awake.

Rouge looked down. "I'm alright," she said. "Not as happy as I thought I would be. You know, especially after what I was able to do."

Knuckles' smile grew solemn. He caught what she was talking about. "Yeah, Sonic's been kind of quiet around the clinic. But I think he's doing all right. It's gonna take some time for him to get over what happened. He needs to be alone for a little while."

"No," said Rouge. "He needs someone to lean on right now. Don't leave him out in the cold, not after he lost Blaze. You should go be with him. He probably needs you more than I do right now."

"I can't talk to him," admitted Knuckles. He looked down as he continued. "How can I tell him I'm sorry when you came out alive for me and Blaze couldn't do it for him? I feel like I don't even deserve to talk to him. I got you back; he's not getting Blaze back."

"I don't think Sonic thinks like that." Rouge looked over to the window of the room. The blinds prevented her from seeing outside, but she was staring at that image of Sonic more than the window. "He understands it's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up over this. It's not like you could have done anything to change it."

"I know, but I can't help holding back my happiness, at least in front of him. I don't want to put him in any more pain than he already is."

"Which is why you need to talk to him. Tell him how you're feeling about the situation. He'll understand, Knuckles. Don't hold yourself back. You thought you lost me, too. Don't you deserve to be happy?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed. He bent down and kissed her lips. "You're always so smart." He smiled before walking out of the room again.

* * *

Tails rounded the corner of the hall and found Sonic sitting in one of the chairs outside a random hospital room. There weren't any folders or files in the case on the wall beside the door, so Sonic must have felt it was the best spot to just sit in silence and think.

Tails hated seeing Sonic like this. His best friend was always optimistic and open. Tails didn't remember ever seeing Sonic sulk. Tails himself was sad to learn of Blaze's death, but he knew his loss was nothing next to Sonic's pain. He walked over and sat in the small cushioned chair next to him.

"Hey Sonic," he said happily, trying to cheer him up. "I heard Rouge is awake. So once she's cleared, we should be able to get going back home."

Sonic let a faint smile break through. "That's good," he said. But his eyes didn't look up at Tails. They hung toward the floor as if there was some extreme weight they carried.

Tails looked down and frowned. He couldn't let Sonic sit here like this. He stood up. "C'mon Sonic," he said. "Let's go see the others."

Sonic slowly stood up. He didn't look miserable. But Tails was having trouble finding any emotions on his face at all. He seemed blank. And this made Tails pick up his pace as he took Sonic to wait with the others.

* * *

"Rouge, you have another visitor," said the doctor as he opened the door and walked in. Rouge nodded her head to approve it, and the doctor turned and motioned for Shadow to come in. Rouge smiled lightly when he looked over at her. He walked over to her side and smiled down at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she told him. The doctor walked out the door to give them some privacy.

Something else was nagging at Rouge. "Shadow," she began, but she couldn't find the words.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "I forgive you."

Rouge laughed softly. "You knew what I was going to ask?"

"Well, it was in my mind, too." Shadow looked up at her. "Briefly."

"You know I never meant for that to happen. We're just friends." Feeling bad, she added, "But we're best friends. And we always will be."

"That's good enough for me," he said, laughing lightly. Then he got serious. "But we should probably just not talk about it again. Don't erase it from our minds, but don't dwell on it. It was meaningless."

"Well, I don't think we'll need to worry about that," noted Rouge. "I have Knuckles. And I think you have someone in your sights…."

Shadow shifted out of his stance and blushed. "What are you talking about?"

Rouge gave him that smile that told him she wasn't fooled. "There's someone out there for everyone, Shadow. Even the ultimate life-form."

"Whatever you say." The red didn't leave his face.

Just then, a Malterrian walked into the room. "Pardon the interruption, but do you mind if I could gather all of your friends in here for a moment? I would like to share something with all of you."

"Of course," said Rouge. She wanted to see everyone anyway. "Send them in."

"Great," replied the Malterrian. He walked out of the room, and a moment later, the door opened again and the others all filed in. Tails came in last with Sonic walking in behind him. Rouge cringed for a split second before breaking it and smiling. She made herself be happy to see all of them again.

"Now that you're all here," began the Malterrian. "I would like to start by offering my highest gratitude toward each and every one of you. You have all brought peace and democracy to our planet, and we will never be able to properly thank you for your efforts."

He looked around to catch their reactions. They were all smiling, except for Sonic, who was looking to the floor with a distant smile on his face. It was then that the Malterrian leader took note of the situation. "We are also aware that one of yours was lost during the struggle." Sonic made no sign that he registered what was just said. The Malterrian continued. "While we are not able to return her to you, we would like you to join us in a celebration and memorial ceremony to honor all those who perished in the conflict. We promise to hold a special recognition for your friend."

"Our friend's name is Blaze," stated Rouge rather coldly.

The others looked back at her for a split second. Even Sonic broke out of his stance temporarily to stare at her. They weren't sure to admonish her for being rude or to admire her for her emotion. Uncertain of what to do, they turned back to the Malterrian official. His reaction was apologetic.

"I'm sorry. …Blaze will have a proper memorial at our ceremony. We would be honored by your presence, and I'm sure you would love to come by and pay your respects to Blaze."

The others, feeling guilty, looked at Sonic. They didn't want to put pressure on him to decide, but he knew Blaze better than anyone, and his friends felt he should decide whether or not to attend. If he didn't feel comfortable with it, then they would leave when they were ready.

Catching the glances from the others, Sonic finally spoke. "I'd like that," he said quietly. "I'd like that a lot."

* * *

The ceremony was held the following day. Rouge had fully healed by then and was able to attend without assistance. It was held in the center square of Desordia and drew the entire city and nearby areas. Most of the planet was freed, so others from neighboring cities came to pay respects to the soldiers who fought and died for their freedom.

Before all had gathered around the square, Shadow walked over to stand by Sonic. The black hedgehog felt that he should try and cheer Sonic up, although he was almost certain he, of all people, would not be able to do it. But he decided to at least give it a try.

"Sonic," he said. "Are you…alright?"

Sonic sighed. He hadn't changed his expression much since yesterday. "Yeah," he muttered. "I'll be alright."

"You'll get through it," Shadow assured him. "I know one thing like this isn't gonna keep Sonic the Hedgehog from being the ever-cheerful hero the world knows and loves."

Shadow laughed a little bit to try and soften what he had just said, for he was afraid that he may have just understated Blaze's death to Sonic's face. But Sonic didn't see it that way—at least he didn't appear to be offended. He just simply nodded. "Yeah," he smiled slightly.

Shadow, feeling he did all he could do for him, nodded himself. He put his hand on Sonic's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "You'll get through it."

Then Shadow left him to think alone while he walked over to join Rouge, Knuckles, and Tikal. They were standing in one small group near Tails, Amy, and Cream. But when Sonic moved to join that group, they all gathered together and moved to the front of the crowd. They were getting ready to start the ceremony.

There was initially a moment of silence and prayer for the lost soldiers and civilians. All in the procession let their minds dive deep into thoughts of lost loved ones or friends that gave their lives so that their comrades could live on. Sonic, of course, could only think of Blaze. All he could think of was the last time he held her hand. It had felt so light and delicate in his own hand, and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world. He cherished it for all that it was worth and continued to replay their last moment together over and over in his head. He was not going to forget her, even if he had to think of only her for the rest of his existence. It was all he had left. And knowing that brought tears to his eyes. He held most of them back, trying to save them for the actual memorial, where he would have to say goodbye and finally lay her to rest.

After a moment, the silence was cut by the priest in charge of the event. He began with a few speeches written by surviving comrades about courageous soldiers who helped to ensure freedom for all. He read poems submitted by a few eloquent Malterrians. There was always at least one being in the audience who was crying out loud, but it certainly never distracted from the ceremony. They all felt each others' pain and sympathized with those who also lost friends and family. But Sonic and his friends could only think of Blaze and her memory. They could only think of the legacy she would leave behind and how she would be remembered as one of Earth's greatest heroines.

Finally, after memorials had been given for the soldiers who lost their lives, the priest called on all who stood there to remember the life of a hedgehog from Earth named Blaze. The priest spoke of how passionately she cared for her work and her role in life. Sonic was able to smile through the fog in his eyes as he listened to the priest talk about the girl he had given everything to. The priest then went on to mention how Blaze worked with the heroes from Earth to liberate Malterr and how she aided in the destruction of Ladronella and her evil that had gripped the planet for so long.

Finally, Blaze was remembered as a close friend to all those who knew her. She always put her life on the line for those she cared about, and she never let them make the sacrifices she herself had made in the end. She sought only the peace and happiness for all peoples in the universe, and that was evident in her drive to find Earth's international jewel thief, who turned out to be Ladronella through her own daughter, Rouge. Blaze was key in helping to bring democracy to a planet that begged for it and deserved it, and she made sure others were around to enjoy it. She would never be forgotten on Malterr. They would celebrate her life, along with all the others who were lost that day, once every year on Malterr. The priest then acknowledged the group in front of him and asked them to come forward and appear before the crowd. They did so slowly and somberly, but smiled as all those in the square applauded their ascent up the stairs to the platform and podium. Sonic was overwhelmed, both crying and smiling as the people of Malterr cheered him and his friends.

"The people of Malterr would like to let Blaze be a symbol of our eternal unity between planets and cultures," said the priest. "We hope that when you return to your planet, you will tell them of us and that we would like to establish formal ties between our great societies. Through this, we shall help to establish universal democracy and closer relationships between planets."

Rouge spoke for the group. "We promise to honor your request. And we thank you for everything you have done for us. I think I speak for all of us when I say that Blaze would truly appreciate all of this. I know that she is smiling down on us, and she is certainly happy for everything that has been accomplished. We will miss her."

She looked back at her friends, and they all nodded. Sonic, still emotional and unable to speak, smiled and nodded at Rouge. Rouge smiled back at him, then turned back to the priest. "I think we are ready now to return to our home."

The priest smiled. "Very well then. Please know that you are always welcome to stay with us. We would be honored by your visit. We hope to see you again someday."

The crowd applauded loudly again as the heroes walked back down into the crowd. Parting like the Red Sea, the Malterrians made a path for the heroes as they walked slowly but confidently through the crowd and back to their ship in the hangar.

A/N: I know I said Ch 21 would be the last one. Well...it's not. When I finished Ch 21, it was on its 17th page on Word with 8100 words, and I think you all would have beaten me if I kept it that long, so I divided it up into 2 chapters. I promise Ch 22 is the last one. Seriously.


	22. Return to a New Life

**Chapter 22: Return to a New Life**

Back at the hangar, the heroes walked up to _The Jewel_ and waited for Rouge to bring down the boarding ramp. With all of Earth's jewels onboard already, they began to ascend the ramp and made their way to the passenger quarters. Rouge and Tails went to the cockpit and activated the lift-off sequence. The others sat down and relaxed as the ship slowly lifted off the ground and made its way up and out of the large hangar. Looking out the small windows in the room, they could see the hangar grow smaller as the ship rose up into the upper atmosphere. Once their altitude was high enough, Rouge and Tails began navigating the ship out and away from the planet. Soon enough, they entered in the coordinates for Earth and activated the hyperspace, and they all silently said farewell to Malterr.

Once in hyperspace, it was very quiet onboard the ship. Most everyone in the passenger quarters simply sat and kicked their feet or stared at the floor, afraid to break the silence. Finally, Sonic got up from his seat and left the room, probably to go off and be by himself for the remainder of the ship. The others worried about him, but no one felt brave enough to follow him. Finally, Knuckles, who had been feeling uneasy about even speaking to Sonic for all this time, got up and walked out of the room to go find him.

It didn't take very long. Sonic had seated himself in one of the nearby rooms, presumably one of the ship's lounges. He sat there silently on one of the soft chairs, not giving any sign of his emotions or thoughts. Knuckles stood there in the doorway and sighed. Sonic heard him and looked up.

Knuckles spoke first. "Hey Sonic," he said quietly. He swallowed hard as he found the strength to do this. "I thought we should probably talk about…what happened."

Sonic simply stared at him, seemingly waiting for Knuckles to continue. Knuckles, however, continued to stand there in the doorway and did not move forward. "I just want you to know that I'm really, really sorry about Blaze. It isn't fair for you to have to live with your loss while I get Rouge back from the dead. I hate to make it seem as if I'm rubbing it in. I'm just so grateful that Rouge is alive. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, and I'm not going to pretend I do. I hope you can understand."

Knuckles finished looking very hesitant and apologetic. But Sonic didn't need to see his facial expression to get the message. "It's alright, Knuckles," he said, smiling a little bit. He was trying really hard to look happy. "But you don't have to be sorry. I would feel the same way had Blaze lived and Rouge died. I know Rouge means everything to you, and I'm not going to ask you to stop being happy just to pity me. I promise I won't take offense to anything like that. Go ahead and be happy."

Knuckles, feeling that walking out now would be a little awkward, responded by walking over to Sonic. He stuck out his fist. "So…are we cool then?"

Sonic smiled and brought up his own fist. "Yeah, we're cool," he said, and pounded his fist with Knuckles. But after doing so, he pulled it back a little quickly. "Geez, Knuckles, you ever think of dulling those things down a little bit?" he chuckled, referring to his pointed knuckles. Knuckles laughed and relaxed as he left the room. But when he looked back, Sonic still sat there in the chair, just staring off into space. Knuckles, feeling like he had done all he could do, turned back to the door and walked out.

Moments later, Sonic heard someone else at the door. He looked up and saw Amy standing there looking sad. He turned away, not wanting to look like he was staring at her, but he had a feeling she wouldn't mind. Amy walked in nevertheless and sat down next to Sonic.

"Sonic," she began. She certainly sounded less hesitant than Knuckles. "I know you're upset now, but you have to get over Blaze soon. You can't pine over her forever, you know."

Sonic cringed at her comments. He felt stung by them and couldn't believe she had the nerve to say something like that to him. "No one asked you, Amy," he said coldly. "I don't need your company."

Now Amy was hurt. She stood up quickly. "I was just trying to help," she muttered as she marched towards the door. She was on the verge of crying when she heard Sonic again.

"Wait," he said, sighing. "Don't go Amy."

Amy turned around and glared at him. First he wanted her to leave, now he needed her? If Sonic didn't just suffer his love's death, Amy might have chewed him out for it. But she remembered what he was going through, and she had to be more sensitive with him right now.

She walked back over and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry for what I said," she admitted.

Sonic shook his head. "You're not the one who should be apologizing. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Amy smiled a little bit because she could start to see the old Sonic she knew and loved. But he wasn't done.

He cleared his throat. "You know what," he began. "I'm also sorry for yelling at you back at Toronto. I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable around Blaze. I'm sorry for all those times I pushed you away. I'm sorry for never seeing you as the friend you've always been. I'm sorry for never being a friend in return."

Amy stared at him, stunned. Never did she think this would happen for real. This was something of her dreams. "Really?" she dared to ask.

"I'm as serious as I've ever been," he told her. "I know that you and Blaze grew closer as you began to know each other. And I'm sure you shared a few secrets and thoughts. But I should tell you that before she died, Blaze wanted me to see you as the friend that you've always wanted me to see you as. She wanted me to learn to appreciate everything you have done for me. It was her dying wish, and I couldn't refuse her."

Amy wasn't sure how to react. She could be angry at Sonic for only being nice to her because Blaze wanted him to, and these might not be his real feelings. But she could tell that there was something more to it, something Sonic had yet revealed.

He went on. "At first, I wasn't sure I would do it." Noticing Amy's change of expression, he quickly explained. "Changing the way I've been acting for all these years was not something I thought I could do. I really wanted to, for Blaze. To honor her memory."

Now Amy was crushed inside. Was Sonic trying to piss her off right now? But he wasn't done yet.

"Then it hit me. I felt so stupid. I was looking at it the wrong way. And I think pondering Blaze's death put it in perspective for me. If I ignored you from now on, I would never get to enjoy your company, and you would end up like Blaze: another friend that passed on before I could ever get to really know her.

"Amy, if I neglect you and yell at you all my life, I will have missed out on something that could be special. It may or may not be love, but I'd take a friendship any day. Thinking about losing Blaze made me…think about losing you."

Amy sat there dumbfounded. She tried to put words together into a sentence, but she failed. All she could do was smile.

It took Sonic's smile to get the words in her head. "You won't ever lose me," she promised. She cautiously lifted her right hand and made a move to rest it on Sonic's hand. But when she visibly hesitated, Sonic gently grabbed her hand with his other hand and placed it on his left hand. Amy couldn't help but blush.

"I don't ever want to lose you Amy," he told her. "I just wish it didn't take until Blaze's death to make me realize that you matter so much to me. If I didn't have you…I don't know where I'd be. Thank you for everything."

He leaned forward and, much to Amy's surprise, kissed her cheek. He let go of her hand and let her rest on cloud nine as he got up and walked back to the other lounge where the others were resting.

* * *

After what seemed like days, the heroes' body clocks were telling them it was time to go to bed. Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Cream got one room, while Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, and Tikal took the other bedroom. Space was a little tight, so two people had to bear the floor while the other two got the comfortable bed. Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, and Tikal walked into their bedroom, and instantly Rouge and Shadow shuddered. They silently shook the image from their head as they walked in with their friends to the bed where that very terrible night took place.

"So who gets the bed?" Knuckles asked. When no one answered, he answered for them. He landed on the bed and sank into its comfort. But he looked around and saw that no one else looked comfortable. "Guys?" he said, trying to snap them out of their thoughts.

"How did the four of us get stuck together in the same room," asked Tikal. "After everything that's happened between us in…well in bedrooms?"

Knuckles looked at her in disbelief. "What are you talking about? I thought we were all over this. It was one night! We didn't even do anything, and I've already forgiven and forgotten what happened here. So what's the problem?"

"Maybe it would just be better if I went in the other room," suggested Shadow.

"Guys, come on!" said Knuckles. "You need to get over this. If I can, you guys should be able to."

"It just doesn't feel right now," said Shadow. "Not yet anyway. I'll go switch with Sonic."

Knuckles sighed. "Whatever," he said as he rolled over and slipped underneath the comforter. Rouge casually got in with him, but Tikal continued to stand by the bed. Finally, she went to the closet and got blankets out for a makeshift bed on the carpet. A moment later, Sonic came walking in.

"What's the problem, guys?" asked Sonic.

"It's not me," said Knuckles, raising his hands in defense of himself.

Rouge sighed. "We just…didn't feel comfortable sleeping in here together. That's all."

Sonic blinked. "OK," he said as casually as he could. "So where am I sleeping?"

"Down here," said Tikal from her hands and knees while she put together her bed. "Next to me. I hope you don't mind."

Sonic chuckled. "Nah, it's all right. But I'm pretty tired, so I'm gonna be out pretty quick."

He got down and helped Tikal make the bed. Soon enough, all four were resting comfortably in their beds. But Rouge was still awake. Oddly enough, she was thinking about Sonic again. He seemed like he had gotten a lot better since his talk with Amy. She was glad for him, but still felt like he wasn't completely back from his grieving. Rouge felt like she should talk to him about it, but she still felt nervous about mentioning that she might have been able to spare Blaze's life. Tomorrow was another day, so Rouge rested her head on the pillow and let her uneasiness melt away and be replaced by happy dreams for the first time in a long while.

* * *

"It's alright Shadow," said Amy. "You can sleep in here."

"Thanks," he said a little uneasily. "Hopefully this won't happen very often." He said this very seriously, but couldn't help but feel like he was lying. And it made him uncomfortable once more.

"Looks like you get the bed with me, then," Amy told him. Shadow jerked his head at the bed for no reason in particular, then back at Amy. "OK," he said quickly.

As he settled under the covers, Shadow couldn't figure out what was wrong with himself tonight. He just left an uneasy room only to come here and feel uncomfortable. Usually things didn't bother him like this. What was so different about tonight?

The answer hit him in the gut as Amy slid into the bed next to him. Shadow's eyes widened as he came to a stunning realization, and for the rest of the night he had trouble sleeping.

* * *

The next morning went by fast. Before they were fully ready for the day, _The Jewel_ came out of hyperspace near Earth. All of them were thrilled to see their home once more, and they all eagerly finished getting ready. In a few hours, the ship entered Earth's atmosphere, and all those onboard immediately felt a sense of warmth and joy upon returning to Earth. The ship soon landed in a little clearing on Angel Island, and they all rushed down the boarding ramp and set foot on the familiar ground. Happy to be back home, they all embraced one another before making their way to the small lake by Tikal's house.

Once they got there, they sat near the shore and admired the calm beauty of the water and the wilderness around them. Everything felt like new for Rouge, who now had her whole life to live however she chose. It was one of the best feelings she had ever experienced.

Then Rouge realized she still had something she had to get off her chest. Not wanting to put it off any longer, she walked over to Sonic. "Sonic," she said to him. "Can I talk to you alone?"

Sonic stood up. "Sure," he said. He followed her down the shore to a more private spot out of the others' earshot.

While Rouge walked away with Sonic, Tails sat next to Cream on the soft shore of the lake. Looking across the perfect surface of the water, they could see the tall exotic trees and mushrooms spiking upwards into the blue sky. It was hard to believe that just a moment ago, they had been looking down on those same trees.

"What an adventure," admitted Tails. "But I think now we can just lay back and relax for a while."

Cream nodded in agreement. "Yes," she said. "I would like that a lot."

Tails sat up and looked at her for a minute. He wanted to tell her something, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to say or how to say it. Cream must have seen the confusion in his eyes, because she smiled at him.

"What's wrong?" she finally asked.

"Cream…" he began. She continued to look at him, and he felt like he was going to melt into the lake. But he had to ask her. So he did. "Have…have you ever felt really close to someone before?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, I have close friends, if that's what you mean."

"Well what if you had one friend that turned out to be…more than a friend?"

Cream smiled. "Like a best friend?"

"Well…." Tails wanted to keep going, but something about the way she looked at him was telling his heart to stop doing the talking for him. "Yeah," he sighed.

"Well I have close friends," said Cream, then she put her hand on Tails' on the ground. "And I also have a best friend. And no matter what happens, I'll always have my best friend."

Tails smiled and blushed a little as Cream's delicate hand rested upon his own. "No matter what," he echoed distantly.

* * *

Shadow walked down next to Amy, who was standing close to the edge of the lake and skipping pebbles across the surface. Part of him wanted to ask why she was doing that and disturbing the peace of the water, but then the other part of him let her be and admired her for it.

"So how are you holding up?" he asked her.

She turned around. "I'm feeling pretty good," she said. She then looked back out at the ripples she made on the lake. "If you're wondering about that—" She pointed out at the circles. "—it's nothing. I'm not mad, I just…entertaining myself, I guess."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, intrigued. But he followed up his question. "Will you be all right?"

Amy now looked him in the eyes. "Blaze was a true friend. She accepted me when few others did. She gave me a chance even when I didn't treat her well. I think if she lived, we could have been really close."

Shadow was expecting her to break down in tears, but she held her gaze. "But she's not here anymore," Amy continued. "And I have to live on. I feel like I need something new in my life now. Something fresh. A new reason for living to keep me the same happy-go-lucky, peppy girl that I am. You know what I mean?"

Shadow smiled. "Yeah," he replied simply. He let his mind wander as he stood there with her, alone in front of the lake.

* * *

"Well, we're back home," Knuckles sighed in relief. "I thought for a while I wasn't going to see this place ever again."

Tikal nodded. "We almost lost everything," she noted. "But we hung on. And your trust kept us in the fight, you know."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow at her. "My trust?"

"Of Rouge," she said. "It kept you and Shadow alive, and it helped Rouge come to us and get our help in the fight. If you left her out in the cold, we couldn't have come together and won."

"I guess you're right," he said. "So does this mean you two have made up once and for all?"

Tikal looked at him. "Rouge and I will never be close friends. We'll try, but it will never happen. We're just too different. And she said it herself; she'll always be that government agent working for the jewels, not the cause."

Knuckles laughed. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Knuckles, I just want you to be happy. You're my best friend, and that's all I want for you. You deserve the best."

Knuckles looked down, humbled. "Thank you," he said solemnly. "And you do to. Don't forget that. There's someone out there for everyone. I know you'll find happiness with someone one day."

Tikal smiled. "Thank you," she said to him. "But I'm in no hurry. I'm happy with everything that I have right now. I have great friends who look out for me." She then reached down and took Knuckles' hand in her own. "And the closest thing to a brother I could ever hope for."

Knuckles did not let go of her hand. "And I've always got my sister by my side."

They hugged each other, and although it happened only days before, it felt totally different this time around. The smiles didn't leave their faces as they let go and turned again to stare out at the water.

* * *

"Hey Rouge, what's up?" asked Sonic as the bat pulled him off to the side.

Rouge took a deep breath before speaking. "I have to tell you something," she said, and she waited until his green eyes locked on her blue ones. "I…I could have saved Blaze from dying."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. But then he came around. "Rouge, I don't want you feeling responsible for Blaze's death. Just because it was your mother has nothing to do with—"

"Please," she interrupted solemnly. "Let me explain. Before I killed my mother, she activated a series of bombs that went off throughout the palace. She told me that if she was going to die, we would all die with her. But I ignored her and moved to kill her, and that's when she pushed the button that essentially…ended Blaze's life."

Sonic stared at her for a moment. Then he smiled. "So you're saying that you should have given into Ladronella and sacrificed your own life and probably millions more, just to make sure Blaze survived?"

Rouge protested. "I could have stopped her another way. I could have let it drag on longer, and maybe I might have gotten the remote away from her. Who knows what could have happened?"

"No one knows," said Sonic. "And you can't pretend like you do. You don't know if doing anything different would have resulted in Blaze living. You did your duty, and if Blaze knew that she died because of your decision...she would have been very proud."

"But there's something else," Rouge insisted.

"Rouge, whatever you say, you aren't responsible for Blaze's death. You didn't push the button, did you? Ladronella killed Blaze. If anything, you tried to save her."

"No. There was another secret path that I actually took out of the treasury. I had forgotten that the light could lead you to any existing path in the dungeons, and while I was down there, it led me toward the wall. Desperately, I walked into it, and I was in a safe metal corridor that took me back up to the foyer of the palace. If you guys could have found that, you would have had a safe way back up to the surface."

Sonic seemed to be registering all of that for a minute. Then he finally spoke. "Then you got lucky," he said simply.

Rouge stared at him, dumbfounded. "Sonic, I can't help but feel like I'm responsible for Blaze's death. How can you be shrugging all this off like this?"

Ironically, he shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I guess I'm just learning to move on. I'll always love Blaze. But before she died, she taught me an important lesson, even if she didn't know it. You can't get caught up in things in life and expect they'll always be there for you. You can't take anything for granted, because one day you could lose it all. Every minute counts. Because you don't know what you have until it's gone."

Rouge looked at the ground. "You're right," she said quietly. "Nothing in life is free. We have to enjoy everything while we can. And I plan on doing that for the rest of my life here on Earth," she said with a smile.

Sonic returned it. "That's great to hear." Then he looked up. "Speaking of enjoying life…" he said. "There's still something I've gotta settle. Hey Shadow!"

Shadow looked over at Sonic as he and Rouge came running over to join the others. "What?" he asked.

"Don't we have a race to settle?" he asked with that familiar smirk. He bent down and stretched his legs.

Shadow rolled his eyes and chuckled. "If I weren't so glad to see you back to normal, I'd say you are one sore loser."

"Loser?!" Sonic shouted. "The only loser here is the hedgehog who can't make it from here and back to that tree over there first. You ready?"

Shadow shook his head, but smiled. "I'm always ready," he said, repeating Sonic's comment from weeks before.

The others looked on and laughed, all happy for the first time in a while at how everything was back to normal, but also how so much had changed for them. They could look to the future now with high hopes and big dreams.

Tails stepped out in between the two hedgehogs, who were in position to burst off once the signal came. "Ready?" said Tails. "Set? Go!"

A/N: Finally, the end. Much reviewing would be appreciated. Hopefully work on my sequel will begin shortly.


End file.
